THE WAY TO WIN 

SUCCESSFUL METHODS 
IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 



FRED -B- FISHER 




Class I 

Book. k 






Copyrights 



5 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT; 



THE WAY TO WIN 

SUCCESSFUL METHODS 
IN THE LOCAL CHURCH 



By 
FRED B. FISHER 



COLLABORATORS 

THEODORE S. HENDERSON 

Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church 

L. ROBESON AKERS 

Pastor Methodist Episcopal Church, Chicago Junction, Ohio 

FRANK W. COLLIER 

Director of Research, American University 

EDWARD M. McCONOUGHEY 

Federal Council of Churches, New York 

R. C. KEAGY 

Pastor Lyons Methodist Episcopal Church, Clinton, Iowa 

CHRISTIAN F. REISNER 

Pastor Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, New York 

CLYDE F. ARMITAGE 

Laymen's Missionary Movement Methodist Episcopal Church 




THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI 



i^S 



•- 



A* 



Copyright, 19 IS, by 
FRED B. FISHER 



DEC -8 1915 

©CI.A414987 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 5 

Introduction 7 

I. Evangelism — To win men to Christ 11 

II. Training — To make men like Christ 33 

III. Community Service — To draw men together in Christ 65 

IV. Missions — To send men out for Christ 99 

V. Local Church Organization 123 

VI. How to Make a Survey 129 

VII. Church Advertising 161 

VIII. How to Finance the Church 179 



Father, grant us, by Thy Spirit, 

That we may have the mind of Christ, 

That we may be inspired with the Spirit of Christ, 

That we may be controlled by the purpose of Christ, 

That we may do the will of Christ. 



PREFACE 

The author has had valuable assistance from several men. 
Bishop Theodore S. Henderson and L. Robeson Akers offered 
much of the material for the chapter on Evangelism. Frank 
W. Collier assisted with the chapter on Training. Edward 
M. McConoughey prepared the first draft of the chapter on 
Community Service. R. C. Keagy helped with the chapter on 
Missions. Christian F. Reisner contributed the material for 
Publicity. 

The manuscript was read and criticised by district super- 
intendents, pastors, laymen, editors, secretaries, and profes- 
sors. Among the criticisms those of Ralph Welles Keeler, 
Assistant Editor Sunday School Publications, George G. 
Saunders, Professor in Colgate University, and Colonel E. W. 
Halford, were especially thorough and helpful. 

Before the first draft of the manuscript was written the 
author conducted a class on Church Efficiency at Silver 
Bay, New York. The discussion of the class centered around 
plans that are here presented. The enrollment included sixty- 
nine people, representing six denominations — pastors, laymen, 
and official church workers. The discussions of the class were 
of inestimable help. 

To Clyde F. Armitage is due special gratitude. He not only 
contributed the chapter on How to Make a Survey, but in 
conference with the author has reshaped and rewritten in 
varying degrees the entire manuscript. The volume could not 
have been published without his assistance. 

Fred B. Fisher. 
New York, October, 1915. 



INTRODUCTION 

This book does not attempt to tell the church how inefficient 
it is, nor investigate the cause of any assumed failure, nor 
suggest a group of remedies. Such efforts have been made 
with varying value. The church has no special need of 
denunciation, diagnosis, or prescription. It is the most virile 
organization the world has known. Taking it for granted 
that every Christian desires his church to move forward in 
the most aggressive and effective way, the book attempts to 
show how to direct the vast energies concentrated in every 
group of Christian disciples. 

The local church is taken as the unit because it is the natural 
starting point for organized Christian activity. From here 
Christianity must flow out through the community into na- 
tional and international movements for the evangelization and 
Christianization of the whole world. 

The authors have taken advantage of all available sources 
of information, both denominational and interdenominational. 
The methods presented have been tested by experience. 

It is not assumed that this is the last word in local church 
efficiency, but it is hoped that it will lead many churches into 
larger life and achievement. 

Let no one think the makers of this book expect the plans 
alone to perform miracles. It is possible for every detail to 
be followed and failure be the outcome. Why? Because a 
confusion in terms sometimes makes efficiency synonymous 
with method. Nothing could be more unfortunate or untrue. 
Methods are but tools. Before and behind the tool must be 
the architect and the workman. Life more than method, 
dynamic more than mechanics, man more than plan, is the 
order. It is not the plan but the result that counts. One 
business man gave an interesting hint to another when he 

7 



8 INTRODUCTION 

said he was so busy working a new efficiency system that he 
did not have time to make profits. There is irony in the 
report of a successful operation when the patient dies. Vision, 
enthusiasm, consecration, faith, life investment, and coopera- 
tion are the human elements which give the breath of life 
to policies and programs. This must be made clear at the 
very " beginning. 

• Personality is the great force of the world. You can hardly 
run down a philosopher these days who would try to explain 
the creation and the maintenance of the universe apart from 
personality. Two generations ago many scientists insisted 
upon erecting blind mechanic law into a cause in itself, but 
thought to-day has well-nigh universally come to assert that 
back of all things is a divine personality who is the primal 
cause and the eternal ruler of the universe. Laws are but 
his methods. 

If this be true in the realm of things, how much more is 
it true in the world of men. Emerson one time said, "An 
institution is the lengthened shadow of one man; ... all 
history resolves itself very easily into the biography of a few 
stout persons." 

Perhaps the best historical method yet conceived is that 
of John Lord, who, in his Beacon Lights of History, selects 
the outstanding personality of a given age and groups all the 
events of the time around that great and controlling leader. 
If he wishes to tell the story of imperial Rome, he takes 
Julius Csesar and groups around this marvelous man all the 
events of his age. If he seeks to portray the enthronement 
of Christianity as the religion of the Roman state, he selects 
Constantine, under whose leadership the persecuted church, 
weak and despised, leaped into triumphant and defiant success. 
To find the source of the power which has characterized the 
Roman Church for fifteen hundred years, he goes back to that 
great organizer and founder of the papacy, Leo the Great. 
If he seeks the soul that stood as mediator between God and 
this country of ours in the years of its darkest night, he turns 
back the pages to the portrait of Abraham Lincoln. He re- 



INTRODUCTION 9 

minds us that even the Acts of the Apostles group themselves 
around the early missionary spirit and activity of leaders 
named Peter and Paul. 

All the valuable things ever accomplished have been the 
outcome of the investment of life. This was the method of 
Jesus. He gathered about him a few men and gave to them 
the responsibility for world conquest. He gave them a mes- 
sage and a plan, but both of these required their giving him 
their lives. He invested his own life, and now his world- 
kingdom is to be brought about by the investment of the lives 
of his disciples. 

Here, then, is the ideal of this little volume. To discover 
a worth-while task for every man, so that through the medium 
of the church his life may express itself in the building of a 
society where the life that is in Christ is both the motive and 
the goal: a blending of personality and method; not magnify- 
ing one at the cost of the other, but taking the best modern 
method and putting into it the best modern Christian life. 
God expects our best. When this is given, nothing can with- 
stand the power of the church. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The books recommended are mentioned in the body of the 
text This relates the suggested collateral to the exact 
matter treated, and avoids mere generalization. All books 
mentioned may be secured through The Methodist Book 
Concern or any other good book store. 



I 

EVANGELISM 

TO WIN MEN TO CHRIST 



I. The Constituency Roll 
Constituency Roll 
Membership Record 
A Definite Goal 

II. Personal Work 
Time Legion 
Evangelistic Canvass 
Win-One Circle 
Win-My-Chum Week 
Training for Personal Work 
Intercession 

III. EvERY-SuNDAY METHODS 

Evangelistic Preaching 

After-meeting 

Invitation to Join the Church 

IV. Sunday School Methods 

The Situation 

Decision Day 

Children's Day 

The Brotherhood and Adult Class 

V. Special Meetings 
The Need 

The Pastor-Evangelist 
A Fellow-Pastor as Aid 
The Professional Evangelist 
Preparation Means Success 
Decision Cards 
Gospel Teams 



I 

EVANGELISM 

TO WIN MEN TO CHRIST 

In the study of local church methods evangelism is first 
in order of thought, since the church has existence and con- 
tinued life only as disciples are won to Christ. 

Dean L. J. Birney declares that "Go ye" is just as funda- 
mental to the kingdom of God as the principle of the incarna- 
tion. Continuing, he says : "The coming evangelism will not 
simply depend upon a few preachers and a few missionaries, 
but upon a multitude of persons ; it will use the foolishness 
of preaching not less, but it will use the high wisdom of 
redeemed personality immeasurably more. The sermon that 
won the three thousand to Christ on the day of Pentecost has 
dominated our ideals and methods all too long. We have too 
long tried to bring in the Kingdom by addition, and the King- 
dom will never come except by arithmetical progression." 

Favorable conditions in Methodism challenge to a daring 
evangelistic advance. The gain by recent quadrenniums is 
a wholesome study. 

From 1901 to 1904, an annual average net gain of 35,309. 

From 1905 to 1908, an average annual net gain of 77,36s. 

From 1909 to 1912, an average annual net gain of 56,267. 

For two full calendar years since the last General Con- 
ference, Methodism's average annual net gain has been 161,245, 
nearly double that of 1906, its best previous year since the new- 
century opened. 

To meet this challenge the church must prepare for action : 
it must train down to brawn and bone. It would be criminal 
neglect to fail either in message or method. 

13 



M 



THE WAY TO WIN 



I. Constituency Roll 

The methods to be considered make a complete constituency 
roll necessary. 

Constituency Roll 

This roll comprises (a) all unconverted husbands of 
wives who are members of the church, (b) all unconverted 
wives of husbands who are members, (c) all unconverted 
children of members, (d) all unconverted parents of children 
in Sunday schools, (e) all unattached persons of families who 
are occasional attendants and who are known not to be identi- 
fied with any other church in the community. This roll should 
be carefully compiled, and will astonish the makers with its 
size, as well as with its unrivaled opportunity. The Methodist 
constituency in Ohio averages two and one half times the 
membership. In many places it will exceed that ratio. 

For the benefit of those not having a method of securing 
a roll simple cards may be used in the following form: 



Street 


Between 


No Floor 




Name 


State in 
Life 


Relation 
to Church 











































EVANGELISM 15 

In order to define clearly both state in life and relationship 
to the church, the following notation has been used : For 
state in life : M., married ; W., widow or widower ; S., single, 
over twelve; C, child under twelve. For the column on 
church relationship: M., full member; P., probationer; SS., 
member of Sunday School, not member of church ; L., mem- 
ber of another Methodist church, with a letter to be secured; 
X., member of another denomination ; O., member of no 
church, indicating a person not a Christian. 

It is often convenient to have the members easily dis- 
tinguished from the adherents in this card file. This is done 
by enrolling members on a white card and non-members on 
a colored one. 

This roll may be made by the pastor in his calling. In a 
large church he should have the assistance of a visiting com- 
mittee. It might take the form of a home survey (see chap- 
ter on How to Make a Survey). 

The Sunday school should use a similar roll, made with 
reference to Sunday school membership rather than church 
relationship. 

The Epworth League uses a roll of young people: (a) 
brothers and sisters of Epworth Leaguers who are not yet 
in the church, (b) young people of church homes who are 
not yet Christians, (c) young people of the Sunday school 
who are not yet avowed Christians, (d) young people of 
the community not yet Christians but who occasionally attend 
church or League services. The young people on this con- 
stituency roll should be definitely assigned to members of the 
cabinet and such others as will definitely invite them to accept 
Christ. 

Membership Record 

One of the first things the evangelistic pastor with a definite 
program will do is to keep and study an accurate list of the 
names and addresses of his members. Some church records 
are monuments of indifference and inaccuracy. Some are 
hoary with age, and filled with names of those who have died 



16 THE WAY TO WIN 

or moved away. Sometimes a careless and not too conscien- 
tious pastor has reported a total number of members to the 
Annual Conference when a careful revision of the roll would 
show less than two thirds that number. Take no improper 
liberties with the church roll, but do not be afraid to handle 
it rightly. Before revising it read the Methodist Discipline, 
paragraph 57. 

Death, trial, transfer to another church, or a request by the 
member, are the only methods by which a name can be taken 
from the books. This rule is unjust to no church, because of 
the provision made in our polity for nonresident members. 
Absent members whose addresses cannot be found after one 
year's search must be reported as nonresident members. 
Certain church books will never be correct until some names 
are restored. 

A Definite Goal 

With the record corrected, and the constituency roll made, 
every church should adopt as its goal a definite number to be 
won to Christ. This lends itself to the development of an 
all-the-year-round program of evangelism. It becomes a part 
of the business of that church, and the administration will 
soon come to count the evangelistic results as a monthly item 
in reports. The specific goal will centralize the energies of 
the entire society, thus giving a wholesome and permanent 
accent to spiritual activities. All the church can be enlisted 
in some form of activity in reaching this end. As a fruitful 
source for enlarging the field of workers nothing surpasses 
the challenge of a set goal. Persons who usually do not at- 
tempt to do Christian work find themselves taking personal 
interest in securing triumphant issue for a good enterprise. 
In increasing numbers Christian workers are discovering 
themselves by taking part in a definite campaign. 

The Commission on Evangelism has challenged the church 
to an increase of ten per cent. 

To reach this average throughout Methodism some churches 
will need to reach a goal of fifteen per cent or more. But 



EVANGELISM 17 

with a constituency roll of 250 per cent or 350 per cent of the 
membership, is not even a fifteen per cent goal small? 

II. Personal Work 

Many a pastor believes that his entire parish would be 
transformed if sufficient personal work were done. How can 
it be induced ? 

Time Legion 

To invest time for Christ is essential if the church would 
triumph for Christ. It is said of William Waiting Borden, 
who yielded his life to the domination of Jesus Christ, that 
"he was generous of his time in the service of others and 
niggardly in using it for selfish ends ; he regarded his life as 
a trust from God ; he invested each day for God." This is a 
high expression of essential consecration. 

Few persons are unwilling to invest as little as two hours 
a month in soul-winning under the pastor's direction. Ask the 
people to pledge that as a minimum. Give to each person a 
few names from the constituency roll. That person must 
report to the pastor within thirty days his success with these 
people. This method has the value of being very definite, and 
this definiteness will secure effort that would never come 
from any amount of exhortation. 

The Quarterly Conference is a good place to begin this 
work. Every member should be anxious to serve. They 
are not a deliberative body alone — they should be the leaders 
in the actual work of the church. Make it plain that the 
constituents are to be invited not only to attend church, but 
be definitely urged to give their lives to Christ. 

Evangelistic Canvass 

An evangelistic canvass may be made in the manner of the 
financial canvass. In many places this has been done by the 
same men who have made the financial canvass and have 



18 THE WAY TO WIN 

become enthused with the spirit of team-play. Detailed direc- 
tions for an organized canvass will be found in the chapter 
on "How to Finance a Church." The names on the con- 
stituency roll are divided among the workers, who will go two 
by two into every home in the parish to acquaint people with 
Christ. 

If it is not easy to start with an evangelistic canvass, put 
on the financial canvass first, and when through with that the 
men will ask for another task. First Church, Syracuse, New 
York, conducted an organized canvass for finance, and, 
although the financial condition of the church was unusually 
good, obtained an increase of twenty-six per cent for both 
the local and benevolent budgets. The men asked, for more 
team-play, and a Go-to-Church Sunday was arranged. The 
men went out again by twos. They secured the attendance of 
ninety-two per cent of their membership and four hundred 
and one unchurched Syracusans. The men then had such a 
victory-spirit that they organized a third canvass. They went 
to the four hundred and one, asking each to give his life to 
Christ and his name to the church. They came back with 
one hundred and seventeen of that number pledged to Christ 
and the church. 

Win-One Circle 

In some churches there are members who might shrink 
from assuming the responsibility of accepting a list of names, 
who nevertheless could easily be persuaded to seek the salva- 
tion of a single individual. 

For such persons there may be organized a Win-One 
Circle. This circle is composed of those whose sincere pur- 
pose is to learn the principles and practice of personal evan- 
gelism ; who will meet at stated intervals under efficient 
leadership and give themselves to this work. No one should 
be invited to join the circle unless there is a specific agree- 
ment to make an earnest and sincere effort to win someone 
to Christ between Sundays. One does not agree to be suc- 
cessful, but to make an honest and determined effort. 



EVANGELISM 19 

The personal work of the members of the Win-One Circle 
will increase its numbers and augment its power. When new 
converts join this circle give them immediate responsibility 
to win others. To insure success make the task definite. 

The programs of this circle should be flexible, but the 
thought of supreme moment should always be winning others 
to Christ. A most effective book of suggestions for leaders 
is Taking Men Alive, by Charles G. Trumbull. 

Win-My-Chum Week 

During November one week, called Win-My-Chum Week, 
has proven helpful in the winning of man}' young people to 
Christ. This is the special evangelistic week of the Epworth 
League, and the program is to make every member a soul- 
winner. On every night of this week — Saturday excepted — 
a service is held under League auspices to win non-church 
young people to decide for Christ and to bring nominal 
Christians to a full surrender to God's will. 

This Win-My-Chum Week is to be preceded and prepared 
for by ten days of visitation and invitation. For the most 
efficient work the League should make a constituency roll, 
distributing the names among the members as seems best. 

The League members who visit these young people should 
invite them: (a) to attend the week of special services, (b) to 
make a decision for Jesus Christ, (c) to join the League and 
the church. 

The last night should mark the supreme effort of the week, 
no pains being spared to make this a banner service. The 
pastor should conduct the "round-up," unless he prefers that 
some one else do it. 

This work requires the constant cooperation and leadership 
of the pastor, and the entire church should lend a hand to the 
Epworth League in making six red-letter days of Win-My- 
Chum Week. 

Through this special effort an interest will be created which 
will lead the cabinet and membership of the Epworth League 
to the adoption of an all-the-year program of personal evan- 



20 THE WAY TO WIN 

gelism. Each year the Epworth Herald prints fresh sug- 
gestions for this special week. 

Training for Personal Work 

Personal workers should be trained as carefully as Sunday 
school teachers. This is not to supplant the leadership of the 
Holy Spirit; rather, it enables the Holy Spirit to use them 
effectively. 

The pastor or a successful lay soul-winner should have 
this work in charge. One pastor devoted four successive 
prayer meetings to the study and discussion of the booklet, 
The Art of Soul-Winning, by J. W. Mahood. Another used 
the Epworth League meetings similarly. A third presented 
in the prayer meetings Bible passages that are invaluable in 
personal work. 

In the fall the Epworth Leagues and Christian Endeavor 
Societies of Brooklyn meet together every second week for 
two addresses on evangelism. The first pertains to message; 
the second to method. The series includes eight or ten meet- 
ings with various speakers. 

In most cities helpful courses are available in some Chris- 
tian school. 

In its larger sense the training for personal work would 
include the whole range of the second division of this volume, 
Training. 

Intercession 

Paul writes, "I can do all things through Him that 
strengtheneth me." Unless personal workers cooperate with 
the Divine Personal Worker they labor in vain. Friends may 
convince, but the Holy Spirit must convict and convert. Yet 
human effort is as necessary as the Lord's, and under His 
direction results are certain. When praying for the salvation 
of another, one should also request the Lord to direct him 
how to reach that other. The Saviour is glad to cooperate, 
but cooperation means that men work also. 



EVANGELISM 21 

The subject of prayer receives more extended treatment in 
the chapter on Training. 

III. Every- Sunday Methods 

Evangelistic Preaching 

Once every Sunday during the year the minister should 
present an evangelistic message followed by a definite plea 
for people to accept Christ and openly declare their purpose. 

Many ministers favor a program of personal evangelism 
but fear a regular program of public evangelism. It would 
be not only interesting but heart-searching to many ministers 
if they could hear the plea of the laymen on this matter. 

It is told that after hearing a very convincing sermon from 
an eloquent minister on The Power of the Cross, a leading 
layman met him and said : "Doctor, I was in a certain city 
and heard you preach last Sunday. I was greatly moved by 
your sermon. But, if you will permit me, I would like to offer 
a criticism. I am a business man at the head of a large con- 
cern. We send out many salesmen. If one of my salesmen 
went into a prospective customer's place of business, talked 
as convincingly for one hour as you did last Sunday about 
the fine quality of our goods, and then walked out without 
trying to get an order, we would discharge him." Said that 
minister, "I was rebuked. The layman was right. I was 
pleading for a verdict, but sought no announcement of it. I 
was selling goods, but did not try to get an order." 

In Rochester, New York, and vicinity a winter's effort was 
made by one hundred and seventy churches with but few 
special meetings and no evangelist. The ordinary services 
were made evangelistic in tone. The results were 6,599 acces- 
sions, including 1,900 men, an interdenominational institute 
for religious education, and several civic reforms. 

After-Meeting 

Why not an after-meeting every Sunday evening? Vary 
its style on successive Sundays. The altar service is again 



22 THE WAY TO WIN 

becoming popular, as people see that when a decision is 
reached they should pray it through until they receive the 
power. The same result may be reached less publicly in an 
inquiry room. 

The object of the after-meeting should be to secure definite 
and open committal to Christ or to any form of Christian 
service presented in the Sunday evening message. It is in- 
tended for all people, not for any particular class. Here 
people must be brought to close quarters with God — either in 
the first committal or for any additional step in successive 
committals to Jesus Christ. Personal workers should usually 
remain to be of assistance to the pastor and those who desire 
help. 

Invitation to Join the Church 

An invitation should be given every Sunday for people to 
seek Christ, and to join the church on probation or in full 
membership. This is not a mere formality, but in large 
churches people may be expected to respond every week. In 
smaller churches, every communion service can be made an 
occasion of ingathering. Some churches have reception of 
members the first Sunday of each month and at that time 
observe the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. 

Members find it a help in approaching strangers to offer 
them a card on which, if they wish, they may signify a desire 
to join the church or to receive a call from the pastor. Such 
a card is often placed in every pew or printed in the bulletin. 

IV. Sunday School Methods 

The Situation 

It is said that "the key to the hard problem of evan- 
gelization lies in the puny hand of the child." One of the most 
effective evangelizing agencies of the church is the Sunday 
school. Statistics show that four fifths of all the people 
who come into the Christian Church come from the Sunday 
school; but two thirds of the members of the Sunday school 



EVANGELISM 23 

never become members of the church. The church must con- 
serve the young life which rightfully belongs to it and for 
which it is responsible. 

Think what it would mean if all of the 393,537 officers and 
teachers of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday schools were 
evangelists, earnestly desiring the salvation of their pupils. 
These teachers face every week a superb evangelistic oppor- 
tunity. 

There are to-day a million and a half scholars above eight 
years of age in Methodist Sunday schools who are not mem- 
bers of the church. With such a force and such a field the 
opportunities for effective work are limitless, and yet the 
records show that in one entire year there has been only one 
conversion for every two teachers. This is a distressing and 
humiliating condition and should be remedied. Before us is 
the open door; the army of occupation must become an army 
of conquest. 

Decision Day 

Decision Day when rightfully observed is an occasion of 
great joy and fruitfulness. There is no reason why there 
may not be a constant ingathering of the children and young 
people through frequent Decision Days. As soon as a child 
knows clearly the difference between "I ought" and "I ought 
not," he can understand deciding for Christ. 

Preparation. Whatever degree of failure has attended 
Decision Day has been due to lack of preparation. The pastor 
and superintendent should confer concerning plans two months 
prior to the day set, and offer complete plans to the Sunday 
School Board, speaking briefly on the need of winning every 
scholar to Christ, and outlining the method to be pursued. 
The pastor or superintendent can secure from each teacher 
a pledge to pray daily for his pupils and to try to bring them 
to Christ. In urging this the pastor or superintendent has 
opportunity to cultivate the Christian experience and ability of 
that teacher. How to approach people in personal evangelism 
should be presented in two or more prayer meetings that the 



24 THE WAY TO WIN" 

board attends. Earnest effort must be made to win every eon- 
verted scholar before Decision Day. Do not notify them that 
a Decision Day is coming until a week or two before the set 
date. Enlist the cooperation of the parents, so that their 
home conversation and conduct, the family reading, the daily 
worship, may all converge toward the salvation of every 
member. The pastor will preach to parents on the religion 
of childhood, and to children sermons calculated to assist 
decision. 

In some places every scholar is provided with a decision 
card, which may read as follows : "I freely surrender my life 
to Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. By His help I shall 
faithfully serve as long as I live." 

The Service. If this preparation has been thoroughly made, 
most of those who are expected to decide will have done so 
and it remains only for the public decision to be recorded. 
An hour before the service, pastor, superintendent, and teach- 
ers meet for conference and intercession. During the Sunday 
school hour there should be a spirit of quietness and earnest 
expectancy. Give but a brief period, if any, to the regular 
lesson. Many schools devote the entire hour to the business 
in hand. A talk on deciding for Christ, acknowledging Christ, 
and serving Christ, is in order, given by some one acquainted 
with the scholars. There should be an appeal for further 
decisions, either before or while the decisions are being regis- 
tered. Where a general service is held, the Kindergarten, Be- 
ginners', and Primary Department should not be included. If 
the cards were not used in the individual work, they should 
be given to the members of each class by its teacher at the 
close of this talk. Five minutes are devoted to earnest discus- 
sion in each class while the blanks are being filled. The cards 
may be accepted quietly by each teacher, or may be given to 
the superintendent as the classes kneel at the altar. Each 
scholar may sign two cards and keep one for his own refer- 
ence. Declarations for Christ, if cards are not used, are 
usually made by standing or by kneeling in prayer at the altar. 
This may be done class by class if desired. There is no more 



EVANGELISM 25 

impressive and affecting sight in all the work of the church 
than to see a teacher and the pupils with whom he has worked 
and prayed going to the altar of the church and after present- 
ing cards kneeling in prayer. It gives courage to the scholars 
if the teacher accompanies them, and brings a blessing to their 
instructor as well. 

In some large churches the following plan is being used 
with satisfaction : A class room is reserved for decision work. 
When any class or department has come to the point of 
decision for Christ it goes to the special room at the study 
period. The superintendent, pastor, or some one who knows 
how to win pupils of that age, conducts a decision meeting 
for them alone. This eliminates the fear that prevents some 
from expressing their decision in public. It also prevents 
some from pretending a decision merely because so many 
others are deciding. 

Where this method is used a general Decision Day may 
be held, in which the whole school will hear the public declara- 
tion of decisions. At this meeting others may be urged to 
decide. Some schools use the term Acknowledgment Day, 
or Declaration Day. With pupils of the Junior and upper 
grades it is quite the genius of Methodism to make the day 
one on which to decide for Christ, to seek Christ, and to 
acknowledge Christ. 

What then? Follow-up work is as necessary as preparatory 
work. Each teacher will continue to pray for his class, will 
try to win the unconverted, to develop the experience and 
character of those who surrender. The pastor will form 
training classes among the converts. Each teacher may be- 
come a subpastor in helping train the members of his class. 
Sunshine bands, personal workers' groups, and other helps to 
service will be started. The pastor must find work for all 
in the Sunday school or Epworth League or elsewhere. No 
one grows without exercise. 

Children's Day 
The same degree of satisfaction and success attained by 



26 THE WAY TO WIN 

concentrated effort on Decision Day will result from the 
observance of other special days, such as Christmas, Easter, 
and Children's Day. 

Children's Day is not for amusement or entertainment, but 
for religious education and inspiration. Let it be a day of 
exalted purpose and mark a spiritual epoch in the lives of 
young people. It is especially fitting that on this day the 
dedication of childhood to God be sealed in the covenant of 
baptism. At this time the pastor might read the roll of 
baptized children. Children's Day would be a most appro- 
priate occasion for receiving children's classes into full church 
membership. It would be to them what commencement day 
is to the student in college. The day when parents bring their 
children for baptism is an opportune hour to lead fathers 
and mothers to Christ, or to receive them into the church. 

The Brotherhood and Adult Class 

Every Brotherhood or Adult Bible Class should plan to 
do definite soul-winning work, thus enriching the spiritual 
life of the organization and enthusing the membership. 

Make of the Brotherhood or adult class a league for prayer, 
with a definite object in view. 

Make a complete constituency roll of the organization, using 
the methods suggested for church, Sunday school, or Epworth 
League constituency roll. 

Every brotherhood or Adult Bible Class should have a team 
of men subject to call from the pastor who are willing to 
work both at home and away from home. Add the new con- 
verts to these teams to testify how they were led into the 
Christian life. 

V. Special Meetings 
The Need 

Whatever emphasis may be placed upon personal or pas- 
toral evangelism, and upon the need of constant efforts, the 
special evangelistic campaign is a necessity. A public evan- 
gelistic program is helpful in its relation to the unsaved be- 



EVANGELISM 2*7 

cause of the fact that it is essentially different from the 
ordinary services of the church. It appeals to the indifferent 
because of its uniqueness. It compels the attention of the 
membership and constituency to the chief business of the 
church ; it rallies the weak and hesitant members ; it creates 
a favorable atmosphere in which to approach people concern- 
ing their relation to Christ ; it fosters a deep and spiritual 
interest on the part of Christians for the unsaved ; and by 
its repeated and fervent appeals it impresses the unsaved with 
the primary claims of Christ upon their lives. 

There are thousands of people saved in these meetings 
who would not be reached in any other way. The church can- 
not afford to be indifferent to this method. 

The Pastor-Evangelist 

Every true pastor is an evangelist. This does not advise 
that he go to neighboring charges to hold meetings for other 
pastors. It means that he is the natural director of the soul- 
winning work in his own parish. Many pastors lack the faith 
to conduct meetings without outside help. Why hesitate if 
the methods suggested above are in operation? Outside help 
cannot succeed unless the local workers are enlisted to 
cooperate. If this is done, the pastor in many cases can secure 
better results than anyone else. To preach the sermons, lead 
the singing, conduct the after-service, and do the personal 
work is too much for one man. The choir can be made re- 
sponsible for the music, and a deaconess may be secured to 
help with the personal work. The biggest help of all is for 
the pastor to realize that he is not supposed to convict and 
convert people : the Holy Spirit is ready to do that if the 
church will assist in the persuasion. The Lord always is 
trying to save people. And there are always some people who 
desire to be saved if properly approached. A pastor who had 
worried greatly concerning the possible failure of his meetings 
was brought to a state of assurance by reading T. O. Peck's 
book, Every Pastor His Own Evangelist. After that he held 
several meetings with good results. 



28 THE WAY TO WIN 

A Fellow-Pastor as Aid 

An increasing tendency is observed toward teamwork among 
pastors. This form of service is making for larger efficiency. 
There is, however, a subtle danger here, and that is that one 
may get out from under the burden of intercession, and 
depend too much upon augmented human effort. An evan- 
gelistic helpmeet will halve the physical work of the services, 
but he may become a hindrance rather than an aid if the indi- 
vidual burden for souls is lessened or shifted. But if two 
men, consecrated and of one mind, unite their forces, there 
will be the added element of interest in the new personality 
and a strengthening of the physical forces which will vitalize 
the services and keep them from lagging during the crucial 
hours. 

This method may be generally recommended where the 
pastor deems some assistance imperative, and when it is not 
expedient to seek the services of a regular evangelist. 

The Professional Evangelist 

Some of the work of professional evangelists in recent 
years has been crude, some of it hurtful. Too often the man 
who had the spiritual leadership of this delicate work lacked 
the intelligence, personality, or tact necessary for success. 
Sometimes commercialism and sensationalism have been con- 
nected with his effort. Therefore many pastors oppose the 
employment of the professional evangelist. 

While there is ground for this attitude, yet from the stand- 
point of the kingdom at large, and from the Scripture (Eph. 
4. 11), it is plain that there is a definite and distinct place for 
the evangelist. There is work which he is peculiarly fitted to 
do. There are many efficient evangelists to-day whose influ- 
ence in the quickened spiritual life of the churches, as well 
as in the large number of additions, will be felt for many 
years to come in the communities in which they minister. A 
true evangelist sustains the same relation to the pastor as a 
specialist does to the general practitioner. 



EVANGELISM 29 

In large union meetings, especially in the case of a city in 
which all the Protestant churches unite, and where, in the 
nature of things, no pastor or pastors could satisfactorily 
direct the services, the leadership of a professionally trained 
evangelist becomes almost imperative, for the highest efficiency 
is necessary in an effort like this. 

Fortunately, the churches are uniting in an effort to super- 
vise more closely the work of evangelists, and by a sifting 
process to eliminate the unworthy while recommending and 
authorizing those who have established their claims to fitness 
for service. For more than a year the Federal Council of 
Churches, through its Commission on Evangelism, has given 
steady attention to the work of evangelists, and from this 
source some effective methods of procedure may be expected 
which will mitigate the evils which have been a serious hin- 
drance hitherto to evangelistic success. 

Within the last few years special evangelism has been very 
prominent in the religious life of the nations and the results 
in many instances have been little short of marvelous. For 
protracted services on a large scale there has been nothing up 
to this time comparable to the great evangelistic campaigns 
led by R. A. Torrey, Gipsy Smith, J. Wilbur Chapman, 
William A. Sunday, and other eminent leaders in this field. 

Preparation Means Success 

Special emphasis must be laid upon an adequate preparation 
for the public evangelistic campaign. A poor preparation 
makes a sad ending. More meetings have been unfruitful 
because of this lack than for any other reason. Whether the 
services be held in city or country, the measure of blessing as 
a rule depends upon the thoroughness of preparation. 

Undoubtedly, this is the secret of Mr. Sunday's success. 
He builds up a powerful organization that reaches every nook 
and corner of the city and neighborhood in which he is to 
preach, and it moves smoothly, efficiently, and powerfully until 
the entire vicinity is stirred to its depths. 

Prepare for the revival two or three months before the date 



30 THE WAY TO WIN 

set for the meetings. The pastor should shape his sermons 
to this end. 

On one Sunday morning have a consecration service, with 
a call for volunteers on whom the pastor may depend to do 
whatever work shall be assigned to them. This will give the 
responsibility of the campaign to people who have a hunger 
for souls. These volunteers will be a great addition to the 
regulars who have been taking the personal workers' training. 

Divide your town into districts and subdistricts, with a 
captain and lieutenant over each. For instance, where there 
are six natural city divisions have a captain over each, and 
each district divided into from four to six subdistricts with 
a lieutenant in each of these. From the very outset this will 
put a large number of church members to work. If there 
are only four or five families in a subdivision it is well. The 
smaller the working unit the greater the efficiency. Hold 
district or subdistrict prayer meetings once or twice a week, 
and a central meeting of the workers at some convenient time 
when reports shall be given of the progress of the work and 
the interest developed. 

Shops and factories in the cities welcome fifteen- or 
twenty-minute noon services. These reach a host of un- 
churched people. They have great advertising value, so care 
should be exercised not to give offense. In rural places some 
live pastors hold brief meetings at noon among threshing 
crews, at hauling bees and barn-raisings, or at night in 
schoolhouses. 

Decision Cards 

W T hen at the altar or in the inquiry room those seeking 
salvation have surrendered, present to them a decision card. 
This card may be worded, "I accept Christ as my personal 
Saviour and hereby pledge my loyalty and service. ,, Beside 
the signature may be written the church preference. 

The cards should be distributed among the several pastors 
according to the church preference signed, that the signers 



EVANGELISM 31 

may be visited and received at once into the fellowship of the 
church they designate. 

A word of caution regarding the use of such cards. A 
signed card usually expresses a decision to accept Christ or to 
serve him : the pastor must make sure that the signer really 
seeks Christ and finds him. Nothing should satisfy short of 
what Methodism calls an "experience" — not a momentary ex- 
hilaration, but an abiding sense of God's saving power mani- 
fest in a transformed life. Then the training of the convert 
should be as carefully planned as the effort to win him. He 
should be given at once specific opportunity to do concrete 
work for Christ, and so apply the new-found power. 

Gospel Teams 

The Wichita plan of gospel team work is now widely known. 
A group of laymen hold a service in their own church or an- 
other. One after the other they tell what Christ has done for 
them. No one is permitted to exhort, but all the talks are 
brief personal testimonies. When a large number of such 
witnesses are available, the service may be assigned according 
to their talents. Some will pray; others will speak; one will 
play the organ or piano ; another, lead the music ; another, 
have general charge of the program. The presence of the 
men will be an inspiration to any service. Their plain busi- 
nesslike testimonies for Christ will compel decisions in the 
audience. No work is more fruitful. 

Have men on one team, women on another. If the men of 
the Quarterly Conference are formed into a gospel team, it 
will arouse the entire church. Epworth Leaguers find gospel 
team work a pleasure. 

Organize teams to present Christ at strategic locations in 
your parish. Such a plan is the best thing available for out- 
door meetings. 

Automobile street preaching has been carried on by the 
Committee on Evangelism of the Federated Churches of 
Cleveland and other cities, and has been successful beyond 
expectations. As speakers have gone from point to point, and 



32 THE WAY TO WIN 

have preached from their automobiles, large crowds have 

assembled. 

What has been said elsewhere concerning prayer and per- 
sonal work applies equally to special meetings. No revival 
will come without these essentials. 

Correlate all the evangelistic endeavors of the church 
through the Committee on Evangelism (see chapter on Local 
Church Organization). 

The cards mentioned in this chapter may be procured from 
the depositories of The Methodist Book Concern, or from 
the Commission on Evangelism, 1701 Arch Street, Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania. 

It is the spiritual birthright and privilege of every Christian 
to have the joy of leading other persons to Christ. Our vision 
and glad desire should be to present every man perfect in 
Christ Jesus. When out of the fullness of his heart a man 
goes forth to give, he himself receives. When he comforts 
others he himself is comforted. In the act of giving others 
counsel he finds himself enlightened. In lifting the burdens 
of the weary his own burden becomes light. The desire to 
bless others is the natural fruitage of the Christ-illumined 
heart. Andrew and John had been with their Lord but a 
day when with winged feet they sought their brothers. After 
one hour of fellowship with Christ Philip went to call 
Nathanael. The woman at the well drank in the glad words 
of the passing Traveler and hastened to tell her neighbors. 
This is the kind of evangelism the world is awaiting, and no 
other kind will reach "the lost man, the least man, and the 
last man." "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that 
He send forth laborers into His harvest." 



II 

TRAINING 
TO MAKE MEN LIKE CHRIST 



I. Worship 

Atmosphere 

Prayer 

Music 

Sunday School Worship 

Sacraments 

II. Instruction 

Sermons and Addresses 
Graded Lessons 
Other Study Groups 
In the Public Schools 
Christian Literature 

III. Social Culture 

Recreation 

Entertainments 

Clubs 

IV. Expression 

Participation in Services of Worship 
Example and Fellowship 
Christian Service 
Life work 



II 

TRAINING 
TO MAKE MEN LIKE CHRIST 

People need not only to be brought to Christ, but also to 
be helped to attain "unto the knowledge of the Son of God, 
unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ." The ideal is expressed by the Master 
himself, "Ye therefore shall be perfect as your heavenly 
Father is perfect." 

I. Worship 
Atmosphere 

One of the important points in creating the right atmos- 
phere is the style of architecture. This needs careful attention 
in building or rebuilding. The Gothic style is the standard. 
If it be replaced with Corinthian, Romanesque, Colonial, or 
some other style, the architecture ought to be uniform and 
harmonious throughout. The best way to secure the desired 
effect is through a trained architect of known reputation who 
has the spirit of worship as well as technical skill. A helpful 
book on church architecture is Church Building, by Ralph 
Adams Cram. 

Keep the building in first-class repair. The temperature and 
ventilation are almost as important in the service of public 
worship as the music or the sermon. 

The most helpful services are pervaded with an air of 
dignity and sincerity. Optimism and faith, the desired pre- 
dominant notes, are most effective in an orderly manner of 
service. Order and attentiveness from the voluntary to the 
postlude double the impressiveness of the message. No visit- 
ing should be done until after the service. 

35 



36 THE WAY TO WIN 

The choir and the pastor will mar the effectiveness of their 
contribution to the service of worship if they do not observe 
the same decorum while they are not engaged that they expect 
others to observe during the anthem and the sermon. There 
is no more occasion for the ministers on the platform to 
whisper together than for the people in the pews. The serv- 
ices in a certain important city church are frequently inter- 
rupted every Sunday by the pastor calling men or messengers 
to him, and giving them instructions or sending them to 
attend to things he has neglected. The pastor should join 
with the congregation in the singing. He is not separate from 
the congregation, but is one of them. 

Make as few announcements as possible; the tendency in 
many notices is to destroy what the worship has built up — a 
proper condition of feeling. The ideal plan is to have a 
church bulletin that people will read, thus making the giving 
of many notices unnecessary. If public announcements are 
made, have this done in concise language by a wise and 
dignified layman. The preacher may wish to emphasize one 
or two of the notices. 

The offering is part of the worship. Prayer centers the 
attention in a powerful way ; and the idea that giving is wor- 
ship is impressed upon the people by having the prayer before 
the plates are passed. 

Most churches need ushers. Make one man responsible for 
the way their work is done and have him train them to be 
efficient and quiet. They should make an effort to seat people 
where they can hear best, see best, and get most out of the 
service, yielding to the preference of the worshiper where 
possible. 

Scripture has most human interest when read without 
assumed tone or style. The correct manner of reading a 
Scripture passage does not differ from the correct manner 
of reading a similar style of writing from any other book. 
Some pastors read Scripture so well that people have ex- 
pressed a desire for longer lessons. 

A reception committee at the door, both before and after 



TRAINING 37 

the service, will aid worship by making visitors feel welcome. 
This committee, composed of both men and women, may be 
changed in personnel frequently, so that many people in the 
church will have the privilege of becoming acquainted with 
the attendants. The committee inquires the names and ad- 
dresses of strangers or calls their attention to a registration 
book for visitors. The pastor will increase his influence with 
the people if he also will greet them in this way. Many 
pastors try to speak to everyone after the service. If the 
Sunday school or an after-meeting follows the service, the 
workers can begin these without the pastor. A pastor in Con- 
necticut spends one half hour preceding the service greeting 
the people. They have learned that he is at the church then 
and many make it a special point to have a word with him 
before the service rather than after. If the pastor does not 
need this half hour for his sermon, he may be helpful to many 
people and may learn some items of information concerning 
his parish. Friends should not abuse this privilege for social 
visitation. 

The Atmosphere of the Home. A worshipful atmosphere 
in the home makes Christ's presence felt as an unseen guest. 
This is important because the home atmosphere surrounds one 
so constantly. Masterpieces of paintings of the Christ hung 
upon the walls help this effect. A certain mother always 
kept Hofmann's head of the boy Christ on the wall of 
the bedroom of her boys so that as they awoke in the morn- 
ing their eyes fell upon that bright and pure face. Another 
mother was distressed because her older boys as they grew 
up went to sea. It puzzled her until one day a friend, who 
understood the subtle power of atmosphere, told her that unless 
she removed the fine picture of a full-rigged ship from the 
wall, her other boys, as they grew up, would also go to sea. 

Prayer 

Prayer is a divine force. It transforms the man who prays. 
And it never can be selfish. Intercession reaches out for 
others, and for this reason a church that regards its task as 



38 THE WAY TO WIN 

a real work to be done for other people will find itself com- 
pelled to seek prayer as the only power that can change 
things. 

It is much easier to get men to acknowledge the fact, the 
worth, and the effect of prayer than it is to get them to pray. 
The multiform duties of life tempt one to neglect it or to 
hurry through it as a mere formality. Men are so anxious 
to get at the work of the day that they fail to make the prepa- 
ration that will increase their efficiency and enhance the value 
of their work. 

While methods sometimes become mechanical and lifeless, 
yet everything worth while is done through order. Unless 
definite methods are adopted, prayer quickly falls into dis- 
use. If a church is to win God's greatest blessings, every 
member and committee will need to take time to pray. A 
committee usually spends too little time in prayer. Such time 
must be taken boldly from something else. S. D. Gordon, in 
his Quiet Talks on Prayer, says : "You can do more than pray 
after you have prayed. But you can not do more than pray 
until you have prayed." Individuals, boards, committees, 
study classes, and conferences may solve their difficulties 
through prayer. 

Private Devotions. When pastor and laymen pray in meet- 
ings of the people, or when with them on walks and drives, let 
it come in naturally. It is undesirable to introduce prayer in 
a fashion that seems to break the trend of thought. Stopping 
in the midst of a conversation, saying "Let us pray," and 
kneeling, is not the essence of prayer — it often destroys the 
prayer-spirit. Encourage the habit of prayer from the 
pulpit and discuss it personally in conversation. Atten- 
tion may be called to some of the effectual prayers recorded 
in the Bible. People may be requested to pray for specific 
objects or for individual people. Concrete requests of this 
kind will start many people praying, who have been merely 
"saying" prayers. Helpful books for private devotion are 
S. D. Gordon's, Quiet Talks on Prayer; H. E. Fosdick's, 
Meaning of Prayer; and Robert E. Speer's, John's Gospel. 



TRAINING 39 

General testimony indicates that early morning is the best 
time for prayer. While none will expect to confine inter- 
cession to one stated season, regular periods each day will 
assist this most important work. Many utilize spare moments 
while riding on trains or walking to places of business. Others 
are reminded by the striking of a certain hour that the time 
for prayer has come. Each person must evolve the plan his 
experience shows to be the most practicable. 

Business men would do well to have on their desks or in 
their pockets for use at noon, or at odd moments of leisure 
in the midst of their busy day, such little books as Yet An- 
other Day, by J. H. Jowett. 

Lives have been greatly enriched by setting aside an occa- 
sional day or part of a day for retirement, meditation, self- 
examination, devotional reading, and spiritual refreshment. 

Family Worship. How can people be induced to conduct 
family worship? The suggestions given in the previous para- 
graph will be helpful here. Try to make it as easy and natural 
as possible. The literature concerning the Morning Watch 
will be of help to any who desire to erect a family altar. This 
may be obtained from The World's Morning Watch, 30 East 
42d Street, New York city, or from the Central Office of the 
Ep worth League, 1020 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago. The 
same company publishes a monthly pamphlet, called the Daily 
Bible, which has a Scripture passage, an explanation, and a 
prayer for each day. A similar set of helps for the year has 
been made available by E. I. Bosworth in a convenient small 
volume called Christ in Every Day Life. Another excellent 
book is The Gates of Dawn, by W. L. Watkinson. 

If no member of the family has liberty in prayer the wor- 
ship may be started with the use of Scripture or a hymn, but 
it is possible for every person to develop ability in audible 
prayer. A paragraph could be read from the devotional page 
of the Advocate. Weekly and daily prayers are printed in 
the Home Department Quarterly. Prepared prayers are also 
available at almost any denominational book store. Protestant 
prayer books are used in many families. 



40 THE WAY TO WIN 

The time of the worship should be convenient to all mem- 
bers of the family including the employees. If no other time 
is convenient, a hymn or passage of Scripture may be used 
in connection with grace at meals. The twenty-third psalm 
or a verse of a hymn may be repeated in concert. 

Prayer Meetings. In most cases it is true that the prayer 
meeting is an index of the condition of the church. There 
are churches that are doing splendid work whose midweek 
prayer service is sparsely attended. In general, however, if 
the people are working successfully, they are also praying; 
and if they are working and praying, they will usually gather 
for fellowship prayer. But the church members and outsiders 
who attend prayer meeting at all regularly number only one 
eighth of the church membership. 

The question confronting the pastor is how to make the 
prayer meeting attractive and helpful. Many meetings are not 
so because they are not centered about any one theme. The 
successive meetings ought to consider a related series of 
topics. The culture received from the prayer meeting should 
be a progressive education. Among the topics presented Bible 
studies commonly yield the best results. One of the helpful 
courses with the Bible as the text is the study of men who 
have been victorious in their religious experience. Outside 
speakers utilized occasionally will introduce new life into the 
meeting. After the presentation of the topic, give opportunity 
for discussion. Leading questions could be mentioned, or 
written on slips of paper or on the blackboard, to guide the 
discussion. 

Separate topics for prayer may be assigned to individuals 
in advance, asking each to think and pray along that special 
line. This has been tried in many places and nearly always 
proves successful. One New Jersey prayer meeting was given 
over to specific petitions for the Sunday school. One member 
prayed for the children who were at the point of decision, 
and for their teachers. Another prayed for the children not 
in the school, that they might be enrolled and won for Christ. 
A third prayed for the Cradle Roll. A fourth, for the Adult 



TRAINING 41 

Department; another, for the parents; another, for the 
Board of Sunday Schools ; another, for the Lesson Committee 
and writers ; and another, for the Sunday schools in other 
countries. It was an evening of blessing. 

For those who are young in the faith it may be helpful 
to write a brief prayer. Sentence prayers from the Scripture 
can be used. Sometimes assign different ones, and sometimes 
have boys and girls repeat the same prayer, one after another. 
Special subjects for prayer are requested in some prayer meet- 
ings, and this helps to make the prayer more definite. Testi- 
mony could be adduced of answers to such specific prayers. 

The official board of one church always sits on the platform 
behind the leader of the meeting. This plan not only soon 
proved helpful to the members of the board, but increased the 
attendance at the meeting. 

Announce that the pastor may be seen privately during the 
half hour preceding the prayer service. It will bring people 
who need pastoral help, and such conference will furnish 
topics for prayer. 

Some churches have a social half hour preceding or follow- 
ing the prayer meeting at the church. In one place the choir 
are responsible for the social half hour the first week, the 
young women's class of the Sunday school the second week, 
the men's class another week, and other groups follow. 

Cottage prayer meetings are welcomed in some communities 
and are better attended than the service at the churches. It is 
well to have a social hour preceding these meetings. Cottage 
prayer meetings are often successful if attended by the people 
of various denominations in the given neighborhood. These 
may be distinguished by the name Neighborhood Meetings. 
Such meetings have proven an invaluable source of power in 
places where evangelistic campaigns have been conducted by 
Sunday, Chapman, Torrey, and others. 

Prayer Groups. In Dayton, Ohio, a few business men have 
been meeting in the office of a lawyer every week day since 
the Ohio Convention of Methodist Men in March, 191 5. They 
pray together for about twenty minutes preceding the day's 



42 THE WAY TO WIN 

work. Employees whose time is not their own could meet 
similarly somewhat early or for a few minutes at the noon 
period. A group of women in a Brooklyn church have a 
prayer meeting every Monday afternoon. Definite requests 
for prayer are sent them by the pastor from his parish ex- 
periences of the previous week. 

Prayer groups are effective in connection with evangelistic 
work and as a follow-up effort. In a union campaign in 
a New Hampshire city each church organized its people 
into groups for prayer. The men of a small church were in 
one group, the women in another, the young men in a third, 
and the young women in a fourth. Each group met once a 
day during the special meetings, commonly preceding or fol- 
lowing the service. Each person suggested the name of one 
unconverted friend for whom the group agreed to pray. These 
names were not mentioned to people outside the group. 
When group members prayed earnestly for the people on 
their list, they were commonly led by the Spirit to speak to 
those prospectives personally. Many converts were won in 
this way. When one of the list was converted he was added 
to the group. The group continued to pray for him that he 
might be established in the faith. 

In some cases groups are started during the Week of 
Prayer for the purpose of praying down a revival. 

A prayer group may begin with one person besides yourself. 

Prayer in Church Services. The pastor's prayer in some 
services is more lengthy than helpful. The prayer needs as 
careful attention in preparation as does the sermon. If not 
written, it should be at least thought out in advance, although 
it is not advisable to read it. Prayer comes from the soul 
rather than from a manuscript. People do not bow to hear 
a literary production, but expect the pastor to lead them in 
praise and petition. Few Methodist churches use a regular 
ritual, but a prayer book could be distributed through the 
pews and used to advantage once a month, asking the congre- 
gation to join in reading some of the beautiful and helpful 
prayers. The same purpose may be served by printing a 



TRAINING 43 

prayer on a card and distributing it for the service. Choir 
response may be helpful at the close of the pastor's prayer. 
Sometimes a brief solo is effective as a response. 

Church-offering envelopes may have printed on the reverse 
side appropriate topics for prayer. This would remind con- 
tributors that giving is an act of worship. Divided envelopes 
with printed topics on the back may be secured without 
extra cost. 

It is well to have the church bulletin carry paragraphs of 
facts, needs, and opportunities, with requests for prayer. 

The sale of literature on prayer should be promoted by the 
pastor and by all the various societies of the church. A por- 
tion of the money set aside by the individual for Christian 
work might well be spent in distributing pamphlets and books 
on prayer. An appropriation for this purpose will bring divi- 
dends. It has often accomplished much good to have such 
literature on display at some prayer meeting or special service. 
It furnishes an opportunity to start a praj^er band as well as 
to sell books. Helps for family worship, if explained, will 
cause some people to set up a home altar. The same plan 
with helps on personal work will enable one to form personal 
workers' bands. 

A New England pastor read in prayer meeting a few para- 
graphs from S. D. Gordon's small book, Prayer Changes 
Things. It was in immediate demand and the book passed 
from hand to hand for several weeks. 

Perhaps a 'study class on prayer can be formed. The Mean- 
ing of Prayer, by H. E. Fosdick, is one of the best textbooks 
for this purpose. 

Music 

Congregational singing is desirable in all services. Music 
is better led by competent men or women who are fairly 
versed in the religion of music as well as in musical art. A 
rural church in Illinois, having no good player, but realizing 
the necessity for one, paid for lessons for a member of the 
church, so that she could play the organ. The music should 



44 THE WAY TO WIN 

be worshipful but thoroughly alive. It may be led by a 
precentor and quartet or a chorus accompanied by an organ 
or an orchestra. For young people's and children's services 
a piano is better than a reed organ. If a voluntary chorus 
can be kept together, it has a certain advantage over the paid 
chorus, provided it puts attention on its work. It is well 
to have a different chorus for different services — perhaps 
a mixed quartet and a children's choir for the morning, 
and a male quartet or a chorus choir for the evening, to intro- 
duce variety. 

"The Hymnal is almost unknown in many of our rural 
churches," a pastor wrote recently. "In its place there is a 
conglomeration of song books issued by the Tom, Dick, and 
Harry Publishing Company of Everywhere, and the good old 
hymns are changed by addition and subtraction to cater to 
the fancy of some particular theological hobby, of which some 
barn-stormer is the expounder. These books should be gath- 
ered together and consigned to the place of the mystic formu- 
laries of the Ephesians." 

This does not underrate good gospel songs set to stirring 
music, but it advises care in the selection of the books. There 
are meetings where these are more desirable than the Hymnal. 
But for most services the best music is to be found in the 
Hymnal and it will serve the purpose best if it is correctly 
rendered. 

A helpful chapter on How to Use the Hymnal is included 
in Carl F. Price's book, The Music and Hymnody of the 
Methodist Hymnal. 

You have been in a service where the leader opened a song 
book at random and said, "We will sing one hundred and 
thirty-two." He was not prepared for the meeting, and the 
sentiment of the hymn did not make much difference to him. 
Selected songs should pertain to the unit of thought running 
through the service. This would not prevent the choosing of 
one or more hymns by the congregation in informal services. 

Singing is the first order of the service. Much depends 
upon the leader. If he gives out the best hymn in the book 



TRAINING 45 

in a cold and lifeless way, the people will not sing it with 
. fervor. On the other hand, if the leader, with promptness 
and warmth and with the tone of triumph in his voice, an- 
nounces a hymn that is uplifting and is set to an appropriate 
tune, the people immediately feel that the service is going to 
do them good. The first move in a service is of great impor- 
tance. It generally sets the pace for the entire meeting. 
Hence it is well to open the thought of the service with the 
first hymn. The custom that some have of delaying the 
opening of a meeting until the late-comers arrive, and passing 
the intervening time by singing, is a very bad one. A few 
persons are enough to have a good meeting if they enter into 
it with the right spirit; and if the meeting is interesting from 
the beginning those who are habitually late will find that it is 
profitable as well as fair to endeavor to be on time. 

It may be well to have a ten-minute song service at the 
beginning of a meeting if it is not to "kill time." When one 
gets to the point that he must "kill time" in a religious service, 
the best thing to do is to go home. 

Generally speaking, joyful singing is preferable; but there 
are times when the more somber note is in order. Sorrow 
and death may have entered into some home in the com- 
munity. The mood of the people is evident, and hymns appro- 
priate to such a mood are more fitting ; but they need not lack 
the note of triumph. Christ is more than sufficient for every 
experience in life; hence any note other than that of triumph 
is false. 

Sunday School Worship 

Most of what has been said concerning church worship 
applies also to worship in the Sunday school. The worship 
period in the Sunday school, however, deserves special atten- 
tion. How can the habit of worship be instilled in the life 
of the children? 

Each department of the school should open and close with 
worship. 

A church in Connecticut devotes half of the Sunday school 



46 THE WAY TO WIN 

hour to worship and the other half to the class work. This 
worship period receives as much care in its preparation as 
the morning church worship. The offering is received in 
individual envelopes on collection plates while an offertory is 
being rendered, as in the church service. Whether this or 
some other plan for conducting the children's worship is used 
in your church, this method for collection is recommended. 
In this school the departments worship together and the 
pastor speaks briefly to the children each Sunday. 

In a New York church the children have a period of wor- 
ship after the Sunday school classes and during the opening 
exercises of the church service. It adjourns before the pastor 
begins to preach. This service is conducted as the one 
mentioned above. These services increase the church attend- 
ance rather than diminish it. If the pastor feels that he 
cannot take the time to speak to the children in such a 
service, an assistant pastor or a layman could do the work 
in his place. 

Many pastors include in the church service a five-minute or 
ten-minute talk to the children. In some of these churches 
the children sit by themselves and the younger ones march 
out in a body when the talk is finished. In others they sit 
with their parents and remain for the rest of the service. 
Church attendance is wisely included as an element in the 
Sunday school efficiency standard. It is fatal to inaugurate 
any plan that will tend to divorce the children from the 
church proper. 

Some schools have brief opening exercises, and after the 
study period give the last ten minutes of the hour to worship. 
No notices are read at this time and no business transacted — 
the children leave in a worshipful mood. 

With any of these methods where talks are given to the 
children, it is well to put these talks in story form. Stories 
may be found in the Bible, the Advocate, or in any good 
literature. One should practice telling stories. Edward Por- 
ter St. John's book, Stories and Story-Telling, is suggestive. 
Illustrative methods, such as the use of chart, blackboard. 



TRAINING 47 

or pictures, will help fasten the stories or talks in the minds 
of the children. 

Worship sometimes suffers from interruption by the clerical 
work of the school. The work of the secretary may be pre- 
vented from obtruding upon the worship by having the at- 
tendance marked in the hallway or at the door when the 
pupils enter. 

Marion Lawrance says in his book, How to Conduct a Sun- 
day School : "The organization of a Sunday school should be 
like the works of a watch — ever going, but out of sight; ever 
running, yet seldom seen. No machinery should be intro- 
duced into a Sunday school, or anywhere else, simply for the 
purpose of 'seeing the wheels go round/ When wheels are 
visible or machinery rattles there is something wrong." 

Sacraments 

Nothing is more helpful in the church service than the 
sacraments when properly administered, and nothing more 
baneful than the sacraments improperly administered. 

The Lord's Supper. This sacrament is always doubly bene- 
ficial when preceded with conscientious preparation of those 
who are to receive it. Its meaning and purpose require ex- 
planation, either in the public service or in a special meeting. 
It should be administered in a manner that is orderly and 
dignified without any confusion. It is rarely advisable to omit 
the sermon entirely. The service itself, however, need never 
fail to be wholesome and helpful. If anyone objects to the 
individual service, both the common cup and the individual 
service may be utilized. 

Baptism. The same comments might be made concerning 
this sacrament. If the pastor administers the rite of baptism 
to children and desires to take them in his arms, it is well to 
become acquainted with them beforehand and thus prevent 
them from crying during the service, as they sometimes 
do because of the strangeness of the pastor. It is not wise 
to change the prescribed ritual for baptism. It is indeed 
possible that the form could be improved, but it is not usually 



48 THE WAY TO WIN 

advisable for the pastor to depart from the accepted form. 
An active Cradle Roll superintendent will find numerous 
children to be baptized. 

II. Instruction 

Sermons and Addresses 

This division is not a substitute for books on homiletics 
or lectures on preaching; but a hint or two will be in place 
concerning the content and plan of sermons as related to 
training. 

Bible material makes sermons strong. Expository sermons 
should be preached frequently on the various inspirational 
Scripture texts. Topical sermons are very helpful on such 
broad topics as repentance, grace, salvation, service, or on 
more specific topics as occasion may demand. Doctrinal ser- 
mons are needed in larger measure than they are generally 
given to-day. The days of controversy are past, but people 
need to know the essential doctrines of Christianity. Practical 
sermons also must be included. People need sermons that 
deal with life as they find it and that tell them how to over- 
come in every phase of life. 

In general, a progressive arrangement of sermons will con- 
duce to a certain development in the minds and wills of the 
hearers. A certain unity running through this progress com- 
bined with variety gives continuity to their thinking without 
a loss of interest. Suppose one holds special meetings in the 
fall. Some such program as the following might be advisable : 
For six weeks, beginning in September, when the people are 
back from their vacations, sermons might be preached con- 
cerning God's Father-love, Salvation through Christ, and 
similar topics in preparation for the meetings. The special 
services might occupy the following month. The ensuing 
six weeks could be given to sermons explaining the essentials 
of the Christian life, building up in the faith and in Christian 
character those who have been won to Christ during the 
previous month. In January the sermons might explain the 



TRAINING 49 

essential doctrines of Christianity, and in February they 
might treat the history of the Christian church. This pro- 
gram would need to be kept flexible for the introduction of 
sermons not anticipated when the program was arranged. 
Consultation with leading members of the church will enable 
the pastor to arrange a program with considerable accuracy. 
If the dates for the sacrament, for temperance sermons, for 
missionary and other special addresses, can be arranged at 
least tentatively a year in advance, this will tend to efficiency. 

Appropriate sermons will be preached on the Christian holy 
days, civic sermons near elections or national holidays, vaca- 
tion sermons just before the people leave for the summer. 

Addresses other than sermons are not as frequent, but may 
be as beneficial. Bible topics may be presented by competent 
men from the outside. Temperance speakers are always avail- 
able. Educational addresses should be given. If there is 
a college near, some of its instructors will deliver good lec- 
tures, and be satisfied as to compensation with the publicity 
it gives their school. The events of the day deserve treat- 
ment frequently. These might be presented in an open forum 
or in a debate. This is done in many churches at the Sun- 
day evening service ; in some, weekly ; in others, once in two 
weeks or once a month. If it does not seem desirable to have 
it on Sunday, it may be held on a week night. Question 
boxes are a good thing if someone is in charge who is capable 
of leading discussions and thinking quickly on his feet. The 
questions for any particular meeting can be directed along 
some specific line by giving advance notice. These services 
may be made attractive with the use of music, motion pic- 
tures, or other features. 

Graded Lessons 

The best method of teaching the principles of the Bible 
with their application to the needs of life is the Graded 
Lesson system. These lessons have been arranged according 
to age-periods, and cover all ages from four to twenty years. 
The Cradle Roll takes care of those under four, and special 



.50 THE WAY TO WIN 

elective courses provide for the adults. The system is new 
to many, and because it is worked out so completely it may 
seem elaborate and complex. The truth is, however, that these 
lessons alone are in harmony with the true principles of teach- 
ing, and they will give one a more adequate and vital knowl- 
edge of the contents of the Bible than any other method. 

Introducing them. How can one introduce the Graded Les- 
sons into a school? First secure information from the Meth- 
odist Book Concern regarding the lessons and the method of 
introduction. This material is then considered in the Sunday 
School Board. Frequently there will be a desire on the part 
of the whole board to adopt these lessons. 

In some cases the superintendent may be opposed to this 
departure. If that is the case, the board in Methodist polity 
is the Sunday school legislative body, and the superintendent 
is supposed to do as it requests. It may not be well, however, 
to expect a man to superintend a Sunday school which is 
using lessons or methods which he opposes. In that case the 
pastor should explain to him the principles on which the 
Graded Lessons are based, and their superior value. Give 
him Coe's book on Education in Religion and Morals. If the 
pastor does not favor the Graded Lessons, then some school- 
teacher should be requested to talk pedagogy to both the 
pastor and the superintendent. Permission can be secured in 
most cases to adopt the lessons in one class or one department 
of the school for a stated period of time. At the end of a 
year the superiority of these lessons will have manifested 
itself so that they may be introduced into the other classes in 
quick succession. 

Teacher-Training. The teachers deserve thorough training. 
This is equally true whether the Graded or the Uniform 
lessons are used. The training class naturally includes every- 
one who teaches and everyone who may be used later as a 
teacher. Substitute teachers need this work as well as the 
regular ones. Sometimes an entire class of young people in a 
Sunday school will be willing to take normal work in place 
of ordinary lessons. Use a standard textbook, such as Wade 



TRAINING 51 

Crawford Barclay's, First Standard Manual of Teacher Train- 
ing. An excellent book dealing with practical psychology in 
a form that can be easily assimilated by any teacher without 
college training is Weigle's, The Pupil and the Teacher. If 
the latter book is studied, it may be helpful to get a Christian 
school-teacher or superintendent to conduct the course. 

Leading schools are realizing now that it is as necessary 
to train officers as it is to train teachers. An officials' class 
3'ields good returns. The young men in a certain Sunday 
school are being trained by the superintendent one night each 
second week. These young men assist the superintendent or 
take entire charge of the Sunday school the Sunday after each 
session of the class, putting into practice what they have 
learned. 

Des Moines has a very complete system of training in 
every branch of Sunday school work. Several instructors 
present the material,' and all the Protestant churches take 
advantage of this unsurpassed training. The details of this 
plan may be ascertained from Walter S. Athern, Professor of 
Religious Education in Drake University, Des Moines. 

Other Study Groups 

Other study groups should be guided, where possible, by 
the best pedagogical principles used in modern Sunday school 
work. 

Classes for Men. One of the first things is a competent 
leader in whom the men will have confidence. It may be 
easier to get men to attend a short course than a long one. 
If it is suggested that a permanent study class is to be formed, 
this may have no attraction, but a larger number of men can 
be secured on a proposition for a ten weeks' course. At the 
end of that time they will probably be so interested that they 
will request the continuance of the work. Organization and 
committee work will add to the interest. 

The Adult Class Monthly presents either the Uniform or 
Graded Lessons in admirable style, and explains successful 
methods of class work. 



52 THE WAY TO WIN 

Social studies appeal to men. See those mentioned under 
Community Service, page 69. Bible study may be made 
interesting by using books of the type of H. E. Fosdick's 
Manhood of the Master. Do not neglect to investigate the 
Graded Lessons for adults. 

A pastor one Sunday told his audience about The Call of 
the World, and how interesting he had found the few pages 
he had read. He said, "If ten men will agree, we will read 
it together." Six men signified their willingness by raising 
the hand. "We will give it up," he said. "I want ten men — 
no more, no less." At the close of the service ten men asked 
him when they would begin. And all eleven enjoyed the 
reading. 

In his book entitled How, Mr. Marshall A. Hudson, noted 
for his Baraca Bible Class work, tells about a Hustlers' Com- 
mittee in a men's class in a Southern State. Any man whom 
the class wishes to reach is invited daily by different men 
according to a prearranged plan. The man who calls Saturday 
asks him if anyone has promised to call Sunday and take 
him to the class. If no one has, he calls Sunday or sends a 
seventh member. The man usually is there on Sunday. An 
unusual case is reported, in which a person refused fifty-six 
invitations, accepted the fifty-seventh, joined the class, and is 
to-day one of the pillars of the church. 

A supper also appeals to men. Some classes have been 
formed by means of the banquet. Ordinarily, it seems pref- 
erable to have it at the close of a given period, or of the 
study year, rather than at the beginning. 

A helpful book on men's class work is Adult Class Study, 
by Irving F. Wood. 

It is hardly necessary to add suggestions concerning women's 
and Epworth League classes. The principles of work are so 
similar. The best courses available for women's classes are 
the adult lessons of the graded series. Women are often 
particularly interested in Bible study. It is urged that the 
Bible be studied by books, considering each book as a unit, 
noting the author, the historical setting, and the original 



TRAINING 53 

purpose of the book. These are necessary to an understanding 
of the message. Epworth League classes manifest consider- 
able interest in mission studies or in the study of stewardship. 
If the latter course is desired, use the book, A Man and His 
Money, by Harvey Reeves Calkins. Interest may be aroused 
in stewardship by the distribution of the little story, Mary 
Christopher, by the same author, or by leaflets that may be 
secured from the Department of Stewardship of the Commis- 
sion on Finance, 1020 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago. The 
new Epworth League Bible study book, Paul, Campaigner for 
Christ, is most heartily commended. 

In some local churches a definite month of the year has 
been set aside when every organization in the church takes 
the same general line of study. The pastor begins by making 
it the theme of his sermons. The members divide into small 
groups, not over twelve members each. Sunday school teach- 
ers have frequently offered their services for such a study 
group. It is not necessary that every group study the same 
book. Variety will add to the interest. Each class may report 
in three minutes to a common meeting the summary of its 
discussion. It has been found advisable for the young people 
to go directly to the classes without any preliminary opening 
service. If possible, have at least three in each class report on 
an assignment which will form the basis for discussion in the 
class. Choose one member to give the summary of the dis- 
cussion in the open meeting. This summary if given each 
week by a different member will permit a large number to 
take part. At the close of thirty-five minutes* study have alt 
the classes come into the large auditorium. After song, prayer, 
and Scripture reading, have the various groups give their 
summaries, which will form another basis for discussion ini 
the open meeting. Here also must be emphasized the impor- 
tance of the leader, especially one who can analyze such a: 
discussion and then at the close of the meeting summarize it 
in a few words. 

Special Groups. Study groups will have added value if 
they are of the neighborhood type, interdenominational in; 



54 THE WAY TO WIN 

nature. In some large cities there are classes composed 
largely of society people of various denominations who ordi- 
narily do not take much interest in church work. Dining- 
room classes are becoming popular, composed of the people 
who board together at a certain boarding house. If there 
is a religious school in the neighborhood, its students will 
often be available for work of this kind. Groups are fre- 
quently formed among clerks in department stores, as, for 
instance, those organized in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia after 
the Sunday evangelistic campaigns. Classes of this character 
may include some people who would not care to meet in the 
church. It will be advantageous to meet in the school build- 
ing or club or some place not attached to any one denomina- 
tion. 

Probationary Training. Training for church membership 
is vitally necessary. In some churches sufficient training is 
given in the regular departments without special classes. In 
most churches, however, such classes are needed. The best 
book for this use is the new Probationer's Manual, by L. F. W. 
Leseman. Memory work is advisable for young people, but 
should be omitted in the training for adults. Seniors and 
adults may often take this work in the Sunday school hour. 
Whole Sunda}' school classes may take the training together 
in place of the usual lessons. This training makes an excel- 
lent course for Epworth League classes. If it is not easy to 
interest men in such a class, they are often willing to meet 
the pastor twenty minutes before or after a Sunday service 
and take the work in lecture form. 

This study work in the various organizations of the church 
should be carefully correlated through the Committee on 
Training (see chapter on Local Church Organization). 

In the Public Schools 

At Gary, Indiana, a plan of religious instruction in con- 
nection with the public schools is being perfected. It gives 
Protestant children religious training somewhat corresponding 
to that of the Catholic parochial schools and the Jewish 



TRAINING 55 

synagogues. The public schools alone cannot do this, and the 
Sunday school has not yet attained to the best educational 
standards. The scholars of the lower grades go twice a 
week and the others once a week to the church of their 
preference to receive instruction in religion, and will go 
oftener when the work is further developed. Best peda- 
gogical methods are used, and the whole is under the sur- 
veillance of the superintendent of public instruction. Attend- 
ance is not required, but regular credit is given, and nearly all 
attend. This system covers in large measure the ordinary 
instruction of the Sunday school and much more. Several 
Sunday schools, therefore, have found it advisable to devote 
their Sunday meetings largely to worship and expression 
rather than to study. 

The Bible in some form ought to be in our public schools 
where this plan is not followed. State laws vary, but some 
use of it is possible everywhere. Get your State law changed 
if necessary. 

Christian Literature 

The printed page is a fellowship with any noted writer 
who cannot be reached in person. Paul, for instance, lived 
eighteen and a half centuries ago, but speaks to men to-day 
through his epistles. 

Among Christian literature the Bible holds first rank. See 
that every child has a Bible or a New Testament. In Ohio, 
a men's class placed one in every guest room of the hotel on 
the Gideon plan. 

Every Methodist home should read a standard denomina- 
tional periodical. How can people be induced to read them? 
Some Advocates will send a representative to your church : 
use his method. One minister has planned an Advocate Sun- 
day. He will preach a morning sermon on Christian Litera- 
ture, a story from the Advocate will be told in the Sunday 
school ; the Epworth League session will be given to Advocate 
clippings ; and at the evening service several laymen will tell 
what the Advocate means to them. In each place volunteer 



56 THE WAY TO WIN 

subscriptions will be requested. Sample copies will be widely 
distributed with a subscription blank in each. This effort is 
being prepared for by having each present subscriber loan 
his own copy to neighbors (not regularly to one neighbor). 
After the Advocate Sunday men and women will go out by 
twos, as in the financial canvass, and will attempt to get sub- 
scriptions from the families who did not subscribe voluntarily 
on Sunday. 

The same plan can be worked for the Epworth Herald. 

An editor recently said : "When the subscription has been 
secured the end is not yet. The failure is often there. The 
wise leader will devote time drawing attention to some special 
article, emphasizing some particular editorial, praising some 
poem or some pictorial arrangement — in a word, will leave 
nothing undone to develop the appetite." 

The Sunday School Library. If a public library or school 
library is accessible, do not duplicate its effort. Encourage 
the people to patronize it as religiously as the Sunday school 
library. Put in the latter the books the former does not have. 
Books for the usual purposes will be recommended by the 
Methodist Book Concern. Make sure, however, that some 
books of extra value in Christian training are available for 
seniors and adults. These might be kept in a separate place. 
Such books as : 



Book of Social Prayers. Walter Rauschenbusch. 

With Christ in the School of Prayer. Andrew Murray. 

Meaning of Prayer. Harry Emerson Fosdick. 

Christ in Everyday Life. E. I. Bosworth. 

Quiet Talks on Power. S. D. Gordon. 

With God and the World. C. H. Brent. 

Yet Another Day. J. H. Jowett. 

Practice of the Presence of God. "Brother" Lawrence. 

Will of God and a Man's Life Work. Henry B. Wright. 

following Christ. Floyd Tomkins. 

Christian Way. Washington Gladden. 

Intercessory Prayer. Andrew Murray. 

Principles of Jesus. R. E. Speer. 

A Man's Religion. W. F. McDowell. 



TRAINING 57 

At a Social Union in New England, The Inside of the Cup 
was reviewed by a person who did not speak for the purpose 
of getting everyone to agree with him. The live discussion 
caused several to buy the book. 

When The Calling of Dan Matthews was in everyone's con- 
versation, an Illinois pastor read, in serial form, Alexander 
Corkey's story, The Victory of Allan Rutledge. Without 
waiting for the bound volume, he made extensive reference in 
a sermon to the two books as ''The Minister Who Flunked 
Out" and "The Minister Who Won Out." His copy of the 
latter story received wide circulation, until no longer intact. 

A missionary speaker, mentioning The Life of Livingstone 
(written for juniors and intermediates), read the first page. 
A woman soon after wrote to him, "Send me the book that 
begins with a menagerie." That first-page menagerie read in 
Sunday school will cause a run on the library. Tell an inter- 
esting story from any live book, stop when you reach the 
critical point, and inform them that what happened may be 
learned by reading the book. Most Sunday school teachers 
think only of the lesson they teach, but what fine opportunities 
they have to suggest good books ! 

Everyland, the children's magazine, would be a large help 
to Sunday school classes. Read a fascinating story from it 
before the Sunday School Board, and show its pictures. They 
will realize its value and likely subscribe for each class. If 
they do not, give each teacher a sample copy. Let the teacher 
read a story to the class and display it. An organized class 
will have some money in its treasury. Ten cents each per 
year from the members will bring this magazine monthly, and 
it can be passed from hand to hand in stated order. The 
Missionary Education Movement will send instructions for 
songs and drills to help advertise Everyland. 

A rural church in Iowa used a "classroom" as a reading 
place and put there church papers, farm papers, dailies, and 
magazines. Most of these were donated by the publishers. 
The people were glad to come and read. This proved to be 
the beginning of an extensive community service of rare value. 



58 THE WAY TO WIN 

III. Social Culture 

Professor Coe says: "The play instinct is nature's way, and 
so God's way, of developing body, mind, and character." The 
words "play," "amusement," "recreation" have this in com- 
mon : they indicate an agreeable condition. Now, the agree- 
able is normal. It is the purpose of the church to enable all 
people to live the normal life in all its phases, which is the 
summum bonum of existence. To separate play from religion 
is, as Professor Coe says, to put asunder that which God has 
joined together. Read Bushneirs Christian Nurture, Chapter 
VI, and Coe's Education in Religion and Morals, Chapter IX. 
Too much religion is separated from play and too much play 
is separated from religion. The Methodist survey of Ohio 
disclosed the fact that the churches are open an average of 
two nights a week, dance halls three, theaters five, moving- 
pictures five and one half, and pool halls six. 

Recreation 

A supervised playground is a necessity for the children of 
the community. If none is available, let the church see that 
one is provided. Also a gymnasium for the older children, 
seniors, and adults. Miss no opportunity to cooperate in these 
matters with the Young Men's and Young Women's Christian 
Associations, with other churches, and with schools. A church 
in Iowa pays the price of the Association membership for its 
poor boys. 

Two churches in a rural town held the young men better 
than neighboring churches because each pastor took time to 
organize a baseball team and umpire the games. No one could 
play on either team who was not a member of one of the 
young men's Sunday school classes. There are over two thou- 
sand boys and men in Sunday school baseball clubs in Chicago. 
Another pastor reached a group of young men through tennis. 
No court was available, but they made one. A vacant lot next 
to the parsonage was leveled and rolled for the court. A 
membership fee of fifty cents each provided the equipment. 



TRAINING 59 

The pastor taught several of them to play. The young ladies 
were permitted to join, and the pastor's wife taught them the 
game. The season finished with a closely contested tourna- 
ment. Tennis courts ma}' be flooded in winter for skating, if 
a larger place is not accessible. 

Some churches conduct a Field Day during the summer, 
including many types of sport with prizes. 

This type of work is not a mere method of trying to hold 
the young people, so that religious influences may be brought 
to bear. It is a real method of "saving souls," saving the 
whole life, conserving and training the entire person. 

Entertainments 

Why not a kindergarten in every Sunday school where the 
little ones can learn God through play? 

Use the beautiful pictures that accompany the Graded Les- 
sons. 

Open a room in the church for supervised games. 

A parlor is a blessing to young people who live in boarding 
houses, and may easily be made to attract them. 

Socials of various kinds with no admission fee, or only 
a nominal one, are a necessity. 

Men's dinners are desirable. Middle-aged men are generally 
neglected in most churches. 

Try a Pageant of Methodism, or a missionary sketch. 

Musicales, lectures, moving pictures, are all in order. 

Social Plans for Young People, by Christian F. Reisner, 
is a valuable help in this work. 

Through the natural play life of people their spontaneous 
interests are learned and clues gained that enable a leader 
to proceed intelligently in bringing out the best in each person. 

Clubs 

Jacob Riis happily said, "The club is the only weapon with 
which we can successfully attack the gang." 

The very genius of Christianity is social. Boys' gangs are 
not a nuisance — they are normal expressions of boy nature, 



60 THE WAY TO WIN 

which is also social. If a man whom the boys respect as virile 
and honest will give a little time and attention to a gang 
leader, he can soon have the group coming his way. If he 
will show them how to play a game, they will accept his 
invitation to some games in the vestry. If he will tell them 
stories of heroes, they will come to him at the Sunday school 
hour to learn about heroes in virtue and character. 

But the boys and girls of the church need club life also. 
Form the boys into a Scout Patrol, and the girls into a Camp 
Fire group. Give them a large measure of self-management. 
Spend some time and labor and money for their benefit. The 
"old swimmin' hole" may be a hell-hole if no big brother 
goes along. But there is a community where every boy is 
a gentleman, because the men take the trouble (and pleasure) 
to go swimming, hiking, and camping with the boys. 

Father and Son banquets are widely successful. These are 
suppers at which no man is admitted without a boy. And it 
is helpful beyond measure for the boy to feel that he is being 
thus royally treated by a man. It also gives the man a won- 
derful hold on the boy. 

The church that invests energy in social culture will not 
be greatly troubled with questionable amusements. If it would 
save its life from such effort, it will lose its life and the lives 
intrusted to it ; but if it give its life, it shall find abundant 
life and save a multitude of lives. 

IV. Expression 

So far in this chapter not much has been said concerning 
expression. Expression is as important in training as impres- 
sion. Indeed, there can be no adequate impression without 
expression. Nothing really becomes a part of one's life until 
he has used it in some manner. 

Participation in Services of Worship 

One of the easiest ways to start people participating in a 
service is to give them Scripture selections to read. Pastors 



TRAINING 61 

and leaders of meetings do not always realize how difficult 
it is for one to take part in meeting for the first time. Make 
it as easy as possible. Under the head of Prayer the sugges- 
tion is made that written sentence prayers be used during the 
prayer season. 

Testimony is important and vital. Brevity is the rule, but 
enough time given to adequate expression to personal experi- 
ence is well spent. The freedom of the testimony meeting 
exposes it to great abuse; and because of this, it is shunned 
by many good people. The one cure for hypocrisy is to make 
the meeting so charged with the Divine Spirit that such 
hypocrisy will be out of place. Insist that exhortations to 
others must not be passed off as a personal testimony of the 
saving power of Jesus Christ. A meeting is sure to be profit- 
able if the people will tell of the application of the theme in 
their lives. This method will help those people who give the 
same testimony on every occasion. 

Testimony may be induced by suggesting as a topic some 
particular feature of Christian experience. Many young 
people have been led to make their first public testimony 
through a discussion. If the leader of the meeting blankly 
says, "Now the time is yours for testimony," young people and 
new converts may be at a loss to find anything to speak about. 

Example and Fellowship 

One of the strongest appeals that can be set before young 
people is the appeal to make their example count. Example, 
however, is not contagious unless combined with fellowship. 
It is not the spirit of "Watch me and see how good I am." 
It is equal contact through which the other person not only 
realizes your virtue but also actually derives some measure of 
the same from you. The Sunday school, Epworth League, 
Brotherhood, and other organizations furnish much oppor- 
tunity for this fellowship ; but the big impression that people 
receive is from the week-day life and work of a man rather 
than from his Sunday life. Make the ordinary conversation 
count for Christ. If a special effort is necessary at first, it 



62 THE WAY TO WIN 

will soon become part of one's character, and helpfulness will 
radiate from him without his knowledge. Get new converts 
as well as prospective ones to attend a summer institute, camp 
meeting, or similar meetings where the religious spirit is 
strong and wholesome. Union services of various characters 
will broaden a person through fellowship with people of other 
denominations. 

Christian Service 

Every Christian should have some definite work to perform 
in connection with the church. Those who have a desire to 
teach, or ability to teach, should be given Sunday school 
classes. If there are no classes available, new classes can 
easily be secured by anyone who will make the effort. Other 
members may serve on the Reception Committee, welcoming 
the people who attend the services. People with musical 
talent should consecrate it to the Lord and exercise it in the 
church. Members who are not gifted along these lines could 
perhaps do the advertising for the church. Men and young 
men may be put in harness in an organized canvass, either for 
finance or for souls. Open-air meetings will give employment 
for a number. City missionary work commonly demands 
more helpers than the churches furnish. Sunshine Bands for 
sick relief are a help in any parish. 

One of the best ways to reach men is to quit inviting them 
to attend services, and offer them something to do — "a man's 
job." 

In getting pledges for Christ and his service one of the 
best systems is that called White Gifts for the King. Sup- 
plies and complete instructions regarding this may be obtained 
from the Meigs Publishing Company, Indianapolis, Indiana. 
It is for use in connection with the Christmas anniversary. 

It is well to make the Christmas and Thanksgiving seasons 
occasions for offerings to Christ rather than occasions for 
praise only or for a mutual exchange of presents. 

Too often it is exhorted that Christian service of this kind 
be done, but too seldom is one approached with : "Here is this 



TRAINING 63 

particular piece of work for which we believe you are fitted. 
Will you undertake it?" The latter approach is usually success- 
ful. Then, too, if a person is willing to undertake the work, 
he deserves adequate training for it. Sunday school and 
missionary conventions and Epworth League institutes make 
excellent training camps. If you cannot secure one for your 
locality, get your people to attend them elsewhere, even if it 
is necessary for the church to pay part of the expenses. 

Getting People Into a Convention. J. Campbell White says, 
"Don't wait to be poked; be a poker." When a convention 
is arranged do not wait for its promoters to enroll your fellow 
members. Discover all you can concerning the meetings, and 
talk them up. Send for literature to distribute. Secure some 
official to present the matter at your church or at a joint meet- 
ing of the churches of your community. Plan a Boosters' 
Feed, and it will attract men who do not usually attend 
church services. Have the visitor describe the coming meet- 
ings, their purposes, and their possible results. Have a neigh- 
boring pastor tell what a similar convention meant to his 
church. Have some one primed to get the floor at the oppor- 
tune moment, say he will go, and suggest that all enroll as 
delegates on the spot. It may be necessary to make up a 
special train. This is quite possible if the same plan is worked 
in nearby churches. Do not send the same two delegates that 
always have attended the conventions and brought back a 
"report." Get the many uninterested to attend and they will 
come back and do things. 

Lifework 

When young people show special ability along particular 
lines the church should be quick to give them opportunity to 
develop their talent. If a young man has a strong leaning 
toward the legal profession, .the church is responsible for an 
effort to make him a power for good in that profession. 
There are other young men and women with talents, who, 
with some encouragement, would be willing to give their 
whole lives to Christian work. They might be encouraged to 



64 THE WAY TO WIN 

volunteer as missionary candidates. The ministry should 
be upheld and dignified at all times, rather than joked about, 
as a lifework. Sunday school classes could be named after 
missionaries that are supported by the church. It would be 
well to have a series of lifework addresses in the Sunday 
evening services, the Epworth League meetings, the prayer 
meetings, or the Intermediate and Senior departments of the 
Sunday school. These gatherings could be addressed by men 
in various walks in life, each telling how a man can serve 
his fellows and his Master in that calling. One of the best 
places to help young people to make their decisions for life- 
work is a summer conference or institute conducted by the 
Missionary Education Movement, Laymen's Missionary Move- 
ment, Student Volunteer Movement, Epworth League, Young 
Men's or Young Women's Christian Association. Some young 
people will be best helped by persuading them to take a college 
course. No pastor, however, should be content to rely upon 
other influences without giving liberally of his own time and 
energy so that the proper results will ensue. A book that will 
be helpful in studying and presenting lifework is The Will 
of God and a Man's Life Work, by Henry B. Wright. 

A card may be of value in securing Christian lifework 
decisions. It may read : 

"I hereby freely and fully dedicate myself to Jesus Christ 
as a living sacrifice in service for others ; wherever, when- 
ever, and in whatever form of service will please him. 

"I will definitely seek the will of God for my lifework, and 
covenant to do that will regardless of circumstance, condi- 
tion, or cost." 

These cards may be secured from the Commission on 
Evangelism. 



Ill 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 
TO DRAW MEN TOGETHER IN CHRIST 



I. For the Individual Church 

A. Information 

B. Activities 

Boys' Work 

Reading Room 

Rural Young Men's Christian Association 

Work Among Immigrants 

Institutional Churches 

II. Cooperative Efforts 

A. With Other Churches 

Union Services 

Moral Conditions 

Temperance Work 

Charities 

Social and Industrial Peace 

B. With Other Local Organizations 

How to Secure a Playground 
Infant Mortality 
Farmers' Institutes 
Holiday Celebrations 

C. With National Organizations 

III. Church Federation 

How to Form a Federation 
What Your Federation Can Do 



Ill 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 

TO DRAW MEN TOGETHER IN CHRIST 

Community service is "that form of effort for man's re- 
demption which seeks to uplift and transform his associated 
and community life. It is the social application of Christian 
principles. It deals with man as a social being in his social 
relations, and with social causes and conditions. It demands 
social and collective action, and seeks not only to save men 
but to embody their Christian life in social institutions. The 
ultimate purpose of community service is to create such a 
social order as shall realize the Christian ideal of human 
society, to give each soul a social inheritance in life, to de- 
velop a perfect life in a perfect society, and to make Jesus 
Christ a fact in the universal life of the world." 

Walter Rauschenbusch says, "Social Christianity is the cor- 
rective of individual Christianity, accepts all the truth of indi- 
vidual Christianity, but sets the individual in the midst of his 
own social life, and undertakes to remodel that social life so 
that it will become an ally of the spiritual forces of Chris- 
tianity.'' 

Community service is not new to religion or to Methodism. 
There is a sense in which the Old Testament law compelled it. 
The teachings of Jesus are yet unrealized in this line. The 
Wesleyan revival of the eighteenth century had such socio- 
religious power that it averted from England what France 
suffered in the French Revolution. 

The last generation has witnessed a marked advance, how- 
ever, in the thought of the church as to its social obligations. 

67 



68 THE WAY TO WIN 

This has been especially prominent since 1908, which year 
marks the deliberate and conscious entrance of the church 
upon the field of social action. The Federal Council of the 
Churches of Christ in America, which represents thirty Prot- 
estant denominations, adopted what is popularly known as The 
Social Creed of Churches, a platform of social principles. 
The church then, as a corporate body, entered this field as an 
agent for social justice. 

Every local church should have a constructive program for 
serving the social needs of its community, both individually 
and through the largest possible cooperation with other 
agencies for social uplift. This program should have as its 
objective the permeation of the community life with Christian 
standards. This community policy should become a permanent 
part of the life and activity of the church. But the program 
itself should be revised and enlarged as the community ad- 
vances and new needs appear. 

I. For the Individual Church 

A. INFORMATION 

To formulate such a program each church must know the 
outstanding social needs of its community. These can be 
known only after a thorough survey, such as is described in 
Chapter VI. It must from time to time review this group of 
facts in order to measure the progress of the community, and 
to estimate its own success in putting religion into the com- 
munity life. Be assured that there will be little success unless 
the program of effort is based upon the findings of the survey. 

The survey should probe deeply. For instance, many people 
are careful about the amount of cream the milk contains, but 
few know r that a fertilizer test would be more important than 
the butter-fat test. Everyone abhors murder committed with 
a gun, but it is permissible to kill a man with bad housing 
conditions. Most people will support charity work, but if a 
day-nursery is enabling mothers to work fifteen hours in a 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 69 

canning factory, everyone who helps support it is abetting: 
crime. 

How can the church work out its social obligations? First r 
it must be a matter of education. Principles of social justice 
cannot be applied until it is known what they are. What are 
the means for this education? The answer is, The regular 
agencies and channels of the church. Study groups and 
forums should be held in the young people's society, men's 
Bible class or Brotherhood, and the various organizations of 
women. Many of these organizations in various local churches 
have lost their former vigor. It has been found that studies 
in social problems will not only awaken new interest in the 
organization itself but will also reach out into the larger 
sphere of social obligations. 

What has been said in the chapter on Training regarding 
study classes, forums, and other methods of presentation con- 
cerns community service. 

One of the best textbooks is The Social Creed of the 
Churches, by Harry F. Ward ; another, Poverty and Wealth, 
by the same author. The Social and Political Significance of 
the Teachings of Jesus, by Jeremiah W. Jenks, is an excellent 
course. A similar one is Francis G. Peabody's, Jesus Christ 
and the Social Problem. If the latter two offer too much 
reading for the men, a valuable study involving less effort 
may be found in the monthly booklet, Gospel of the Kingdom, 
edited by Josiah Strong. Back numbers may be obtained in 
bound form. If the class members do not care to study, they 
will be interested to read and discuss R. F. Cutting's, Church 
and Society. If they wish to study principles, the best book is 
Devine's, Principles of Philanthropy. Current discussions in 
community service are vitally presented in the magazine, 
Survey. 

One of the large churches in the city of Chicago devoted 
its Sunday evening services during the summer to the study 
of social obligations. Prominent men and women addressed 
these meetings. Every one was an expert in a special field 
of activity. Good music added to the occasion, and systematic 



70 THE WAY TO WIN 

advertising brought the fact to the people, so that, instead of 
a few people being there on those hot Sunday evenings, the 
auditorium was filled to its capacity. Although a small hono- 
rarium is acceptable to social workers, they are very glad to 
give their service gratis. This is also true of city and State 
officials, so that the church has a large source from which to 
draw expert information. This should be utilized. 

For those groups that are studying specific social institu- 
tions or problems it is recommended that personal investiga- 
tion be made under wise guidance, and the data thus obtained 
be reported to the class. Have the members of a class visit 
the jails, hospitals, reformatories, factories, and public meet- 
ing places for labor demonstrations, so as to better estimate 
the social conditions. 

The Federation for Social Service, 72 Mount Vernon Street, 
Boston, and the Federal Council of Churches, 105 East 22d 
Street, New York city, will be glad to furnish plans and sug- 
gestions. 

B. ACTIVITIES 

Boys' Work 

When you win the boy you win his parents and become 
a community benefactor. The boy is a problem only because 
he is misunderstood. 

The boy lives in relationships, in terms of a club, a tribe, a 
troop. He is stronger when he feels he is a part of a great 
organization. Study the various types of clubs and see which 
would appeal best to the boys in your community. A boy's 
estimation of himself is measured largely in terms of his 
uniform and regalia. He is living through the tribal life. 
Utilize these instincts. The Boy Scouts of America has the 
outdoor life; it is full of educational opportunities and acts 
as an incentive to their mastery. It uses the instinct for 
making and collecting things. It also offers a group around 
which the pastor or another leader can draw the closest associa- 
tions. The national office of the Boy Scouts of America is at 
.200 Fifth Avenue, New York city. W>ite also to the Rural 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 71 

Department of the International Committee of the Young 
Men's Christian Association, 124 East 28th Street, New York 
city. From the Methodist point of view the Boy Scouts may 
lack one or two desirable features that are supplied in the 
Knights of Methodism or the Knights of the Holy Grail. 
For information concerning the former organization and its 
work, write to the Board of Sunday Schools, or to the Central 
Office of the Epworth League : concerning the latter, address 
Rev. Perry E. Powell, Indianapolis, Indiana. 

A young pastor in Chicago organized two baseball teams, 
helped them get their equipment, coached them, and paved 
the way with other churches to have the managers of the 
teams arrange schedules. This pastor accompanied his team 
and generally helped umpire the games. The victories were 
announced in church and the parents urged to support the 
teams. The scores, whether victory or defeat, were placed 
on the announcement board of the Sunday school and atten- 
tion always called to it. Soon the town teams asked for 
games, which resulted in a new boy understanding. Instead 
of gang fights, they worked their energy off in baseball. And 
further, the gangs learned how to play a clean game. 

The girls meantime were organized into sewing classes and 
into singing clubs which held classes among the foreigners 
in the community under the auspices of the Young Women's 
Christian League and the Young Men's Christian Association. 
At first the parents were horrified that their daughters should 
cross the imaginary dead line to this part of town; the 
foreigners were astonished that girls would care to come. 
The Epworth League cooperated with the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association in furnishing Sunday afternoon programs 
of music and reading. At first no foreigner would attend, but 
finally the crowds were so great that it took several policemen 
to keep them in order. 

Reading Room 

Every person should have easy access to good books and 
magazines. If there is no public reading room, open one 



72 THE WAY TO WIN 

in the church building or elsewhere. Many States have 
what are known as traveling libraries. These books can 
be obtained for a specified number of weeks. When this 
time has passed another set of books is sent. Any local church 
can in this way obtain access to a large number of selected 
books. In addition to the traveling library, some States are 
furnishing not only books, but also lectures with lantern views 
and motion pictures. Thus can the church stimulate interest 
and direct appetite and help satisfy it. 

In several communities the various churches that had Sun- 
day school libraries have combined these so as to form one 
community library, and so give not only a larger selection, 
but also a higher moral tone, to the nucleus of the library. 

The churches should not stop here, but should see to it 
that a library board is appointed by the mayor or is elected 
by the community. This board should include the various 
leaders of the churches, and such other men and women of 
the community as will strengthen such a committee. Of 
course the heartiest cooperation should be obtained from the 
school-teachers as well as the school commissioner of the 
district. 

In several instances the churches have contributed to the 
library not only the books, but financial support as well. 
Where it is not possible for the library board to afford to pay 
for a trained librarian, workers from the various churches 
have been secured. Often young people are willing to devote 
an afternoon or evening a week to such work, especially if a 
small sum is given. 

An empty store frequently has been rented to house the 
hooks. In other towns the library has been placed in one of 
the churches with the distinct understanding that it is a 
community library. 

A number of the larger cities are extending their library 
service to the communities around them. It is upon the same 
plan as the traveling library sent out by the State. If this has 
not been tried near your community, go to the librarian of 
the city, lay the matter before him, and request that such a 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 73 

traveling library be sent; state to him that the church or 
group of churches or an appointed library board will be 
responsible for the books that are sent. In some cities the 
library board has even gone so far as to send a trained 
librarian to care for the books. In several States grants of 
money are allowed to a library if an equal amount or a cer- 
tain proportion of the amount is raised b}^ the community. 
This knowledge can be obtained by writing to the State com- 
missioner of education. 

Libraries have been started or increased by donations from 
interested families. This is a good plan if the people do not 
make it the opportunity for dumping books that they no longer 
desire. 

The purchase of used books is also to be avoided unless one 
is sure of the value of their content. 

Care should be taken to secure the latest and most helpful 
books on special lines of study; as, perhaps sociology, civil 
service, electrical engineering, journalism. 

In some communities the greatest need is to arrange the 
books on hand. The Newburgh Survey found the books 
placed on the shelves in the order in which they were received. 
They should be grouped by subjects, so that one can readily 
find what is available on any topic. Open shelves will enable 
one to look these books over without asking a librarian's help. 
Under the old plan no one knew what books treated a given 
subject; or if he did, it took much time to collect them and 
replace them. All books should be catalogued on cards by 
name, by author, and by subject, in three lists. 

Rural Young Men's Christian Association 

Another constructive activity is the Rural Young Men's 
Christian Association. How can one be formed? The 
rural Association is different from a city Association in 
that it usually has no equipment. It is the general organ- 
ization of boys and men in various activities for rural better- 
ment. A leader may gather around himself a group of boys 



74 THE WAY TO WIN 

and young men, those who are interested not only in the 
athletic and social activities but also in the deeper and the 
religious phases of life. These groups need not be thor- 
oughly organized, but at least the interest ought to be so 
aroused that it is worth while to call the secretary of the 
County Association to the community. It is well to have 
several of the leading men so interested in the proposition 
that financial obligations may be met. Every State Associa- 
tion has now a Department of Rural Work or of County 
Work. If there is no Association in your county, the first 
thing to do is to communicate with the State county secretary. 
His address can be obtained from the Rural Department of 
the International Committee of the Young Men's Christian 
Association, 124 E. 28th Street, New York city. 

A rural pastor learned that a meeting had been called to 
discuss the organization of a County Association. He encour- 
aged the idea and decided to go. An ex-senator, active in 
business life, having two sons, lived in the parish, and the 
pastor persuaded him to attend for the sake of his boys. Then 
he suggested that the automobile would make the trip enjoy- 
able, and the ex-senator agreed. At the prospect of a good 
ride, the Sunday school superintendent and the president of 
the men's class decided they could take the day off and go 
along. 

The meeting at the county seat wakened everyone present 
to the possibilities of the work. A County Committee was 
selected to form an organization ; and the pastor, through con- 
ference with the officials, had the ex-senator made a member 
of it. When the county secretary was named the pastor said 
to him, "Senator Blank, of your County Committee, lives in 
our community, and here are two more of our prominent 
men, all interested in young people. We are ready to help you 
try out this proposition in our village." The secretary came as 
soon as due notice could be given of the meeting. In the 
church auditorium he showed lantern pictures of Association 
work in neighboring counties. A local committee was ap- 
pointed that evening. The Sunday school superintendent, who 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 75 

was a school director, secured the use of a room in the public 
school building, and so the good work was launched. 

Work Among Immigrants 

A pastor, recently arrived at a certain charge, was delighted 
to learn that the Armenians graduating with the eighth grade 
had been taught and prepared for examination in a free night 
school conducted by two members of his church. These de- 
voted young women, school-teachers, were fired with a desire 
to serve beyond their pay. They interested the Armenian 
young people through a man who had founded three schools 
in Turkey before coming to America. He knew of the teachers 
by the reports of his children, who were in the public school. 
He found a few young people who were willing to meet two 
nights a week to study. Permission was secured to use the 
district schoolhouse. The pastor or another man accompanied 
the teachers on each trip. Two winters' efforts accomplished 
the result mentioned above. 

This work also furnished the contact that enabled the church 
to secure the attendance and membership in church and Sun- 
day school of a number of Armenian young people and chil- 
dren. 

Such a point of contact in an Italian neighborhood was 
secured by housing a public vacation school in the church 
building. This accustomed the boys and girls and a few 
visiting parents to the place and to the pastor. After the 
vacation school the pastor secured the help of some live young 
people and organized boys' clubs and girls' clubs. These had 
a flexible program, including games, athletics, sewing, basket- 
weaving, and reading. The club members were invited to 
attend the classes of the Sunday school, and many do so. 
Some of their parents objected to this; but a visit to the 
school persuaded them that the object was to make them 
real Christians rather than to change their denomination. 
Moving pictures of a popular character were shown for them 
once a week, with an admission price of one cent. Motion 
pictures of moral and religious value secured their attendance 



76 THE WAY TO WIN 

Sunday evening and gave opportunity for a brief talk. Each 
club leader sat with the members of his club at the service. 
Adults came also to see the pictures, and now a Sunday eve- 
ning preaching service is conducted in the Italian language. 
Several conversions and accessions are reported by this church. 

Institutional Churches 

Some churches incline toward community service that can 
be housed in their own buildings. Gymnasium work, manual 
training, sewing and cooking classes, musical instruction, and 
night schools are among the usual efforts in this line. 

Such work frequently necessitates a parish house or a new 
church building. The equipment depends upon the work 
undertaken. 

It is best to begin in a small way, with only one or two 
lines of work. This will show the value of the effort, will 
secure the confidence of the people one is trying to benefit, 
will interest and train young people for further efforts, and 
will loose the purse-strings of supporters. 

Its service is not confined to the work it houses. It will aid 
outside community betterment. Because of its own work it 
frequently exercises the largest influence and contributes the 
most cooperation in any united undertaking. The institutional 
church should be simply a leader. For example, as soon as 
the public schools begin courses in domestic science available 
to the people the church is reaching, the latter should devote 
its attention to other work. 

The various efforts to serve the community by the several 
departments of the church should be carefully coordinated by 
the Committee on Community Service (see Chapter V). 

II. Cooperative Efforts 

Cooperation is the essence of Christianity. Men may pray 
for each other, and men may pray with each other, but only 
by their working together are the real principles of Christian 
brotherhood manifested, 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 77 

Some of the things considered above could be done better 
cooperatively than by one church. Different types of work 
are considered here, however, so as to cover a wider held. 
The principles of procedure are much the same whatever 
cooperative task is undertaken. 

A. WITH OTHER CHURCHES 

How may cooperation be secured with other churches or 
other communions? The first essential is securing the right 
kind of leadership in each communion. A leader must be 
sympathetic, broadminded, clear of vision, one who knows the 
community and one who knows how to estimate personality. 

Union Services 

The first step in this direction is often realized in union 
meetings. This will help get the churches accustomed to 
the team harness. If it is summer time and the majority 
of the congregation are away, ask the pastor if he does 
not think it would be well to have the congregations of the 
community join on Sunday evenings in a union meeting. 
Make him realize the strength and value of the combined 
worship. Instead of several churches with partially filled 
pews, have one auditorium full. Instead of a number of 
depleted choirs, have one serve a stated time while another 
has its vacation. Instead of supply pastors, have one pastor 
at least who is acquainted with the community and direct the 
members of all churches to him. Thus is utilized the law of 
mass psychology: instead of a number of broken fragments 
existing separately have the body of Christ worship together. 
Just as in a business office the several executives arrange to 
take their vacations and yet always have one of their number 
at the office, so should the various pastors arrange their vaca- 
tions so as not to leave the community without a religious 
leader. Just as a business man divides his office force for 
their vacations, so can the churches arrange to have one of 
their choirs sing every Sunday. 



78 THE WAY TO WIN 

When a number of such union meetings have been held have 
a friendly exchange of pulpits. This does not mean to hold 
to one's own communion, but to exchange with different 
denominations as well. Let the pastors exchange their pulpits 
to show especially to the various congregations that they 
are all preaching the one Christ that is Lord of all, and 
that the difference in denominations is principally due to 
form of church government and not to essentials of Chris- 
tian faith. Denominationalism to-day is not sectarianism. 
The time should come when all can say with Andrew Bonar, 
"I should rather see fifty people converted and join my 
neighbor's church than to see forty-nine converted and join 
my own." 

In a village with only two churches the Baptists worship 
the last Sunday evening of one month with the Methodists, 
and the Methodists with the Baptists the following month. 
Each minister preaches in the other's pulpit, and each choir 
sings in the other's service. 

Interdenominational prayer meetings and union evangelistic 
services have received mention. Interdenominational conven- 
tions have done as much as any one institution to bind to- 
gether the various communions. 

Moral Conditions 

Churches that are "spiritually-minded" and not inclined 
toward social enterprise may be interested readily in matters 
of plainly moral concern. 

In attempting to eliminate the immoral conditions found in 
a rural community the first thing necessary is a leader who 
can see and keenly realize the conditions. He must gather 
about himself a selected group, such as the pastors, the physi- 
cians, the several men and women who are or will become 
equally interested. This group should make a survey, noting 
what people have connections with any church in the com- 
munity. This survey should include not only those within the 
village itself, but those in the surrounding districts, perhaps all 
in a radius of six or ten miles. Emphasize social activities, or- 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 79 

ganized and unorganized, including not only those of the 
young people but those of more mature age as well. The vari- 
ous phases of recreation should be considered. Housing condi- 
tions should receive attention. Many large communities have 
serious housing problems. What are they in this community? 
Income, its sources and expenditure, should be investigated, 
and the occupation, not only of the adults, but of the young 
people as well. Of what influence are the summer visitors 
on the moral life of the community? Chapter VI tells how 
to make the survey. 

After the survey review the data in the committee. Here 
the facts should be frankly considered, but to the community 
some facts should be presented only in generalizations, not the 
specific illustrations themselves. The data have been gathered 
so as to convince and to obtain action by the committee. Since 
the members of a rural community usually are known one to 
another, it is often well not to allow certain facts to become 
known. 

Constructive activities should be organized that will elimi- 
nate the destructive elements in the moral life of the com- 
munity. As is generally known, immoral conditions are the 
result of surplus energy that is not consumed in constructive 
activities, such as the playgrounds, athletics, or in physical 
labor. Especially beneficial are those activities which include 
the educational element. Mention may be made of the Boy 
Scouts, Knights of Methodism, Camp Fire Girls, debating 
clubs, singing clubs, and reading circles with a church or town 
reading room. These do much to prevent immoral conditions 
in a community. Many of the young people spend most of 
their leisure hours on the streets because the community has 
no public reading room. Sex information should be included 
in the science courses of the public schools, with lectures to 
parents on how to instruct the children at home. It may be 
that the greatest need is a Saturday half-holiday. There may 
be no place where the sexes may meet under proper auspices. 
In some places the first step would be to wipe out the saloon. 
Types of work have been treated and others will be treated 



80 THE WAY TO WIN 

that may solve your problem; but the survey alone can deter- 
mine the specific needs in your locality. 

It requires tact to correct an immoral situation. A group of 
young men in a rural section formed a brass band. When 
they had learned to play with some success they started a 
bowery dance as a means of income. The pastor, finding no 
constructive method of overcoming the evil influence of the 
bowery dance, preached a plain sermon against dancing and 
exposed the sinful character of some of the moving spirits. 
It killed the dance, but it also prevented the pastor from bring- 
ing any of the band members to Christ. In another com- 
munity an orchestra recently formed started to play for 
dances. The choir leader went to members of the orchestra 
and said he would like to hear them play. He complimented 
them, and said if they were planning to play good music and 
were in earnest, he would secure for them the privilege of 
practicing at the church, and would help them get engagements 
to play in neighboring towns. These young men have quit 
the dance music, and in return for the privilege of practicing 
in the church building play occasionally in the services. 

One pastor in answer to the question, "How does your 
church cooperate with the public schools?" wrote, "By watch- 
ing them like a hawk." The chief of police in a certain city 
was asked, "Could the ministers be of help to you?" And he 
replied, "Surely, if they would only stop scolding." By this 
he meant that they might offer less pulpit advice and give more 
actual assistance by personal effort. R. F. Cutting, in The Church 
and Society, says, "She [the church] has tried criticizing them 
[civil authorities], ignoring them, battling with them, trying 
to capture them." If that mind is in the church which was 
also in Christ Jesus, it will rather offer them its help. The 
aim should be not to control, but to assist, not to crush, but to 
lift. The church can be greatest and do most by becoming 
servant of all : it can never be great by trying to make them 
its servants. 

The spirit of community service is admirably embodied in 
Worth M. Tippy's book, The Church a Community Force. 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 81 

Temperance Work 

It is seldom difficult to interest a church in temperance 
work. But every church ought to fight the liquor business 
with politics as well as with education and exhortation. 
Sometimes ministers retain their former appointments after 
an Annual Conference until after election time. Some Con- 
ferences have been changed in date so that the pastors with 
new appointments could arrive early enough to be entitled 
to a vote on the new charge. 

In one community the liquor interests expected to win an 
election by quietly promising a good road for "wet" votes. A 
pastor heard of it, and informed his men's class. This class 
arranged meetings in every district school of the township, 
and the five pastors spoke on the election and told their audi- 
ences plainly about the deal. The men's class on election day 
divided its members, some to get men to the polls, some to 
interview doubtful voters before they went into the booth, 
and others to watch the polls and prevent dishonesty. The 
town stayed "dry" by the largest majority in its history. 

Some places vote dry but remain wet. They can be kept 
dry by organizing the respectable citizens into a Civic League 
for the purpose of watching and prosecuting illegal sales. 
There may be an organization that will do this with your help, 
without creating another. Always connect with the State 
Anti-Saloon League. 

Charities 

Although charity has been one of the basic principles of 
Christianity, it is only within the last few years that the 
real science of giving has been learned. Previously it was 
the giving of alms to satisfy immediate distress, with little 
consideration of its moral effect upon the recipient. To- 
day the aim of philanthropy is to rehabilitate the applicant. 
Indiscriminate giving, both on the street and at the house- 
doors, is directly contrary to this principle. The church must 
inculcate in its constituency a real understanding of the 



82 THE WAY TO WIN 

principles of philanthropy and their Christian application. 
The first step is the education of the church itself in these 
principles. 

The church must cooperate with the existing philanthropic 
organizations, especially the Associated Charities of the city. 
If no local organizations exist, connect with such agencies as 
the Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the 
Poor, the Charity Organization Society, the Salvation Army, 
and the Volunteers of America. 

A Charities Council. Every church should have a Charities 
Council, which is composed of the visiting nurse of the church, 
or the deaconess, or the social worker, the pastor and his 
associates, together with the physicians of the congregation, 
and other especially fitted men and women. It should be 
small, with not over eight or ten members, so as to work 
without an executive committee. This council is to the local 
church what the Associated Charities are to a city: all 
applications for relief coming to any member in the church 
should be immediately referred to this council. 

An example will more concretely illustrate the procedure 
where there is no Associated Charities organization. Suppose 
that a child has told one of the members of the church 
that her father has fallen from a building and broken 
his leg. This member of the church immediately notifies 
the district nurse or deaconess, who in turn informs the pas- 
tor and goes immediately to the home of the workman. Here 
she finds that the family has nothing to eat and no fuel with 
which to build a fire. The deaconess then approaches the city 
officials, stating that the church can supply enough money for 
food, and asks that the city send the man to the hospital. If 
the man is a lodge member, his fraternity may be asked to 
furnish fuel for the home. The deaconess communicates then 
with one of the women's organizations of the church and 
obtains clothing for the family. Upon further investigation, 
it is discovered that the daughter is suffering from tuberculosis. 
The child is taken from the home and placed in one of the 
city sanitariums. 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 83 

The deaconess has meanwhile filled out the history of the 
family on the card, since it was previously learned that this 
family had not made application for help before. The card 
is kept in the files of the Charities Council of the church. 

The rehabilitation of the home is now undertaken. A place 
is obtained so as to give the mother employment. The small 
children are taken by the deaconess and placed in the day 
nursery. Frequent calls are made to the patient in the hos- 
pital. If the man dies, the Charities Council communicates 
with the Widowed Mothers' Pension Department of the State, 
and secures an allowance for the family. The men of the 
local church should even go so far, if necessary, as to compel 
the owner of the building in which this family lives to con- 
form to the tenement regulations and those governing sanita- 
tion. 

Creating a Charity Organization. If no philanthropic or- 
ganization exists, the church should form one. This is com- 
monly necessary in the country districts and the smaller towns. 
In a town of from 1,500 to 1,800 population the following 
course of action is recommended : 

1. The appointment of a Charities Council in each church. 
This council would be responsible for the administration of 
all philanthropic work which may belong to its own church. 

2. The formation of an Executive Committee composed of 
the heads of the Charities Councils of the respective churches, 
the ministers, and the physicians. 

3. The hiring of a visiting nurse whose salary shall be paid 
by the churches through the Executive Committee. She would 
assist in all cases of need, especially by cooperating w r ith the 
physicians. 

4. The hiring of an expert social worker whose salary shall 
be paid by the churches through the Executive Committee. 
This worker would make a careful survey of the community, 
carefully keeping a record of the needs and conditions, and 
cooperating with the various Charities Councils and the physi- 
cians to bring to pass improvements looking to the removal 
of causes which will in time make aid necessarv. Here em- 



84 THE WAY TO WIN 

phasis would be placed on constructive work for the removal 
of causes rather than merely the securing of scientific adminis- 
tration of aid. Of the two workers, if but one worker can 
be hired, the nurse would be the better ; especially one who 
has had sociological training and experience. Suggestions 
may be secured from the American Association of Societies 
for Organizing Charity, 130 East 226. Street, New York city. 

Social and Industrial Peace 

No longer can the church stand aloof from the grinding of 
social injustice. Its business is not only to save the individual 
soul but the body as well. To agonize the body and to dwarf 
the mind is to kill the personality. A man without personality 
cannot apprehend God. 

Every church should learn through study classes, lectures, 
forums, and fearless sermons, the duty of man to his fellow 
workers, and it should inspire the enactment and enforce- 
ment of laws that would bring about this right relationship. 

Since it is often difficult to know the real causes of a 
labor dispute, many pastors are inviting the opposing factions 
to present their case publicly. In some churches this is done 
on Sunday evening; in others, on a week day. If both sides 
speak the same evening, have a separate evening for discus- 
sion. A good plan is to have the employer the first evening, 
with questions; the laborer, with questions, the second; and 
on a third, an open discussion. 

The church should be instrumental in creating a Board of 
Arbitrators. A pastor may gather around himself the other 
pastors, with an unprejudiced layman from each church. In- 
vite public representatives of the community to meet with 
them. Ask representatives of both factions to present their 
case. If, after discussion, the men cannot agree, select with 
the representatives three or five men to go more deeply into 
the matter — men in whose opinion the opposing factions will 
place confidence. Such a committee has prevented final erup- 
tions. 

One pastor after an impartial sermon invited representatives 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 85 

of both sides of a strike to meet him, and a settlement was 
readily reached. In large cities ministers doing work of this 
kind must operate in harmony with city officials. 

International peace is community service in its largest terms. 
And the degree of its realization is largely dependent upon 
how much the local church has inspired the community to 
apply the social teachings of Jesus. What the local church 
can do for international peace is briefly presented in a manual 
prepared by Sidney L. Guiick, The Fight for Peace. 

B. WITH OTHER LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS 

Where there are other organizations, all communit}^ work 
may be doubly effective if done in cooperation with them. 

It is best to offer to cooperate with these organizations at 
first, rather than ask them to help the church on some under- 
taking. In the city of Washington, at the suggestion of the 
Social Federation, each of several churches accepted respon- 
sibility for improving the conditions in a specific alley. A 
social center was established in each Mey by the responsible 
church; and the result was a remarkable transformation. 

It is necessary in many cases for the church to take the 
initiative. That is assumed here. 

Hozu to Secure a Playground 

To obtain a community playground, the first essential is an 
organizer, who sees the need and can visualize this need to 
others. 

He should secure definite data and cooperation from the 
Playground and Recreational Association of America, 1 Madi- 
son Avenue, New York city. It is generally necessary to 
educate a community to the requirement of play. This is 
especially true for young people who work all day either on 
the farm or in a factory. Work is not exercise. Work 
wearies and deadens the muscles of the body. Play stimulates 
and rejuvenates them into new life, even though they are the 
same muscles that have been at work all day. It is generally 



86 THE WAY TO WIN 

the craving instinct for play that is driving the young people 
from the country to the city. 

The facts must be presented to the various ministers, the 
principals and teachers of the schools, and to other key men 
and women of the town, so as to secure their sympathetic 
cooperation. 

This will induce a careful survey of the community. Points 
to be emphasized are the number of boys in the community, 
the number of girls, the number of square feet per child that 
is available for playground. The streets in this survey are 
not to be counted as ground to be played on. The general 
character of the vacant lots in the community determines 
whether the children are allowed to play in them. What play 
apparatus is there on the school ground ? Can it be used by 
the children at other times than school hours? The various 
nationalities should be considered, since often a division of 
race makes a division in playing conditions. Present recrea- 
tion should also be considered, that which is organized as well 
as that which is unorganized. 

A working program will include the appointment of a per- 
manent executive committee, and the securing of a playground 
director, trained if possible, plus cooperating workers. In 
several communities it is found advisable to have a committee 
from the churches, which will form the connecting link be- 
tween the young people and the churches. This is done in 
many instances by the Sunday school teachers volunteering as 
workers on the playground ; also by the club and team leaders 
taking their groups to the playground in person. This com- 
mittee should cooperate in providing a normal program of 
social and recreational activities, adapting them specially for 
adolescent boys and girls. 

Since it is often impossible to obtain a fully equipped play- 
ground, churches are borrowing vacant lots, clearing them of 
rubbish and weeds, and leveling the ground. The boys are 
generally glad to help in this, and a teamster will donate his 
work with his team. A water pipe for drinking water is often 
run to the grounds. A few swings, teeter-totters, and a slide 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 87 

will add greatly to the joy of the young life. Frequently, if 
requested, the lumber merchant is glad to donate the lumber, 
and several carpenters, especially if they have children, gladly 
make the play apparatus. In this way churches through 
cooperation are making play centers in the community with- 
out much expense. 

Infant Mortality 

Suppose the babies of the community are dying at an 
abnormal rate. How can this condition be remedied? 

First, as has been stated, the churches should use existing 
social organizations. If there are none, the church must 
create them. It may rest with the churches to take the lead, 
or the responsibility may be carried by such organizations 
as the Associated Charities, the Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Children, or the Board of Health. In any case 
the churches should see to it that the pressing need is 
remedied, even though it necessitates the creation of an or- 
ganization. Later, if the organization can be made self-sup- 
porting by the arousing of public sentiment, the churches will 
be relieved of its management. 

In its largest terms community service includes not only all 
Protestants but Catholics, Jews — in fact all races, creeds, and 
no-creed-at-all ; for no great and vital social work can be done 
without the hearty cooperation of all those concerned. 

The leader must know the conditions in his city. He 
must know, for example, how fast infant mortality has 
increased. This information can be obtained from the Board 
of Health or the coroner. He should have definitely on paper 
not only the total of deaths listed by months for the current 
year but also the totals and percentages for at least three 
or four years previously. Further, he should learn from the 
Board of Health the exact localities where the death rate is 
the highest, so as to show concretely which districts are most 
affected. After these facts have been gathered they should 
be so analyzed and synthetized in the leader's mind that they 
can be readily and clearly presented. 



88 THE WAY TO WIN 

The wise leader will find another community-patriot. It 
may be a pastor, a business, or professional man. If he 
already realizes the situation, he may decide at once to co- 
operate. If he is undecided, allow him to think it over. Make 
a definite appointment to call the next morning* or the next 
afternoon. 

Consult the next man whose cooperation you desire, pre- 
senting the case to him and mentioning that Mr. Blank also is 
considering it and is likely to cooperate. Ask him to suggest 
one or two other strong persons to form a committee. Select 
about five to nine for this "setting-up" committee, and see each 
of them individually. If another person has special influence 
with any individual, let him present the matter to that one. 
Much can be accomplished by personal influence. 

When these several men are acquainted with the idea call 
a meeting. A luncheon is suggested as one of the modern 
methods for presenting such a program of work. Perhaps one 
or two of the men you have seen would be glad to advance 
or to give the few dollars that would be necessary. Plans 
should be carefully laid for this preliminary meeting. Select 
a chairman who is thoroughly in sympathy with the project 
and who commands the respect of the other men. Ask at least 
one man to be prepared to lead the discussion immediately 
the topic is presented. It is often well to have for each mem- 
ber a typewritten outline of the proposal. The leader may 
present the situation in about ten or twelve minutes while the 
others are eating. The chairman may then call for the discus- 
sion. 

This group of men should underwrite the proposition ; that 
is, advance payment for the expense of the work in hand, 
guaranteeing a certain amount to meet the necessary budget. 
If desired an executive committee may be appointed to operate 
the policy adopted. 

This general committee method of procedure is valuable in 
all phases of church work. It has been described here be- 
cause it is peculiarly necessary in cooperative community 
service. 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 89 

The program of work for this executive committee will 
be determined by a survey. It may include the hiring of 
a district nurse and the establishing of her headquarters 
in the center of the district investigated. If it can be 
afforded, it would be wise to have a social settlement worker 
in the district as well. It would facilitate the operations 
of the district nurse, as well as give her more definite 
information. One is needed who can thoroughly understand 
and comprehend the social conditions in the neighborhood 
and to be sympathetic with those that live there. The co- 
operation of the several physicians of the community surely 
should be secured. 

Since poor milk is generally one of the main causes of 
infant mortality, the executive committee should secure the 
establishment of a milk depot or depots, as the situation may 
demand. In a number of cities, upon the recommendation of 
the investigating committees, such depots have been estab- 
lished, and later, with public consciousness and opinion aroused, 
have been taken over and operated by the Board of Health. 
In other communities it has been found necessary to readjust 
the district Board of Health so as to meet the new conditions 
and to make its work more efficient. 

Utilize every method of publicity and then crystallize the 
opinion in a concrete program that will remedy the existing 
evils. 

Farmers' Institutes 

In more and more communities the church is meeting 
the practical civic and social needs. Farmers' Institutes 
have been organized under its auspices. Frequently it is 
difficult for men to see that there is any value in scientific 
farming. Send for some literature from the State University, 
or the Department of Agriculture at Washington. If an insti- 
tute or a demonstration is being held near by, persuade one 
of the farmers to take two or three men there. Guide them 
to the leaders of the conference. Acquaint them with men 



go THE WAY TO WIN 

that are having success in the new experiment. Then, if 
possible, get one of your men on a State or county committee. 
This will tie both him and his community to the movement. 
Make definite arrangements for an institute near you. During 
the winter a course of lectures can be had on this subject. 
Extension courses can be obtained from many universities. 

In Iowa during the summer of 1914 Methodist churches on 
three districts held one-day institutes of both agricultural and 
religious value. The program was somewhat as follows : A 
daily expert gave an address on The Iowa Cow. A man 
who had helped arrange an extensive corn contest spoke re- 
garding Better Corn. A rural survey of the three districts 
was presented, charting the conditions, and showing the inti- 
mate relation between farm life and church life. An address 
followed on How to Serve the Community, and one on 
How to Serve the World (missionary). These prepared the 
way for another, An Adequate Program for This Church. 
This was followed by How to Finance the Enterprise. 

An Indiana pastor arranged a more extensive institute, with 
exhibits and prizes. 

If there is a Grange, a Cow-Test Association, a Good-Roads 
Club, or any such organization, consult with their officials, 
and have them represented on a joint committee which should 
be in charge of the Institute. 

Holiday Celebrations 

National holidays offer good opportunity for the advance- 
ment of cooperation along the different communions. Thanks- 
giving carries with it a distinct religious motive. The 
churches, therefore, should see that this motive is made prom- 
inent in the day's program. Instead of having a number of 
small congregations attending the various churches, would 
it not be better to have a large congregation assemble in per- 
haps the largest church in the community? After you have 
acquainted one pastor with the feasibility of the plan take the 
matter up again with another, perhaps taking the first along 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 91 

with you. Then see each pastor in the community. Call them 
all together, in order to talk over the matter and lay 
definite plans. If, while the discussion is going on, a light 
refreshment is served by some of the ladies, it will greatly add 
to the friendship of the occasion. The pastors now form a 
self-appointed committee. They should gather around them- 
selves certain men and women, choosing them from the 
churches of the various communions, to form committees for 
carrying out the details of the Thanksgiving program. 

Naturally, the pastors are the leaders, but their skill in 
administration is shown by their having trained others to care 
for every detail. Every division of the day needs a committee, 
whose chairmen compose a directing committee. The cost of 
printing is well spent. Some churches are charging a small 
fee to help defray the expenses. Others break even by selling 
concessions for stands. Do not make it an occasion for rais- 
ing money. In any case it should be a community affair and 
everybody invited — all races and creeds ; it should be dis- 
tinctly known that it is under the auspices of the church, and 
so stated on the program. 

Care should be taken to obtain the best speaker possible — 
one who can give an address that will draw the nonchurchgoer 
as well as the regular attendant. The music is a vital factor — 
not only should there be appropriate songs, but good instru- 
mental music as well, which will act as an additional drawing 
card. The President's or governor's message or both should 
be read, as well as a Scripture lesson. Have it so arranged 
that the several pastors shall have some part in the meeting. 
The whole service should ring w T ith vigor and Thanksgiving 
enthusiasm. 

In a celebration of Independence Day the church would not 
appear so prominently. While the church leaders may pro- 
mote the arrangements, the other organizations of the com- 
munity should be partners in the enterprise. The Grand Army 
Post might secure the speakers ; the Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Revolution could provide the music. The Athletic Asso- 
ciation should handle the sports. The Board of Trade could 



92 THE WAY TO WIN 

arrange for special trains. The lodges with chapters in 
nearby towns might conduct the advertising. 

The matter of advertising is important. Have all the out- 
standing features of the program embodied in the advertise- 
ment. See that not only the community is well placarded but 
also have the posters placed on the country roads. Lay plans 
well enough in advance so that the knowledge of a great cele- 
bration can thoroughly permeate the entire community. An- 
nounce the program from the pulpit. Place special items in 
the daily press. Let each pastor and those in charge of the 
various committees aim to make this a great occasion for the 
community. 

C, WITH NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS 

Community service demands the utilization of all construc- 
tive forces available for the needs of the local church. How 
often it is found that the local church knows nothing per- 
sonally of the agencies of charity and philanthropy, the Law 
and Order League, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Children, committees aiming to clean the vice districts, or 
organizations for civic betterment. Every local church through 
its various committees should have active relation to all 
these constructive organizations. 

Many local churches have no vital knowledge of the great 
movements of their denominations, nor any relation to them. 
They therefore lose that psychic power of attachment : a small 
unit drawing strength from a mass of like units. Take, for 
example, the Laymen's Missionary Movement of your denomi- 
nation. What is its purpose? What is it doing? So many 
local churches are looking for something to vitalize their life 
and yet do not know that here is an agency within their own 
communion whose very purpose is to make the church more 
efficient. Write to the La3^men's Missionary Movement, 150 
Fifth Avenue, New York city, and indicate how it can help 
you. 

The local church should be in close relation not only to all 
the great movements within its own denomination but to 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 93 

those of other denominations and those which are inter- 
denominational as well. We are living in an age of broaden- 
ing cooperation. To live to oneself is to narrow one's vision. 
For example : the nation has the great problem of liquor, or- 
ganized to defeat the very ideal for which the church is strug- 
gling. Here is a social obligation : put time, effort, and money 
into those Christian organizations that are aiming to eliminate 
the saloon. It is by cooperation with these national organiza- 
tions that the local church can best do its own local piece of 
work. They know the best methods for this problem and can 
often extend leadership. The Church Temperance Society, 
Topeka, Kansas, and the Anti-Saloon League, are such organi- 
zations. 

How vital is the relationship of the Young Men's and the 
Young Women's Christian Associations with the local church? 
They should be parts of a whole : upon their closest coopera- 
tion with each other depends their degree of success. 

To-day the church has a new social obligation. Not only 
must it preach against evil in high and in low places, but it 
must use its organized strength to remedy existing conditions. 
There are yet some social institutions that are relics of the 
Dark Ages — for example, our jails and penal institutions. So 
deeply is the idea still imbedded that society must imprison a 
man until his personality is crushed, that it is almost impossible 
to reshape this institution. It is totally wrong to throw out 
upon society at the end of his sentence a tubercular emaciated 
piece of humanity, with a cowering but revengeful soul. 
Wrongdoers are largely victims of their environment ; they 
are as sick men. The judge cannot, any more than the physi- 
cian, fix a time limit for the run of the disease. . Criminals 
should be given an indeterminate sentence. Their imprison- 
ment should be conducive to rebuilding character. Instead of 
living in a niche in the wall, six feet high, eight feet deep, 
and four feet wide, with the only light passage blocked by 
heavy bars, the convict should have warmth, light, air, and 
instructive employment, where God and nature can make a new 
man of him. Why not interest your church in this social obli- 



94 THE WAY TO WIN 

gation ? The National Association for Prison Reform, Colum- 
bia University, New York city, will be glad to help. 

Children are still allowed in too large numbers to sacrifice 
their lives in our factories, mills, and mines. Communicate 
with the National Child Labor Committee, 105 East 226. 
Street, New York city. 

For years men and women have tolerated vice. To-day 
they are deciding it must be eradicated, and know that it can 
be greatly diminished by stamping out the segregated vice dis- 
trict. The American Social Hygiene Association, 105 East 
40th Street, New York city, is aiding in this cause. 

Neighbors come from across the sea; they are evangelized 
there — ignored and shunned here. If the impact of these 
peoples is not to swamp our civilization, American relations 
to them must be improved. Every local church near them 
should maintain classes in English and civics. These people 
need the big-brother help of the church. Connect with the 
Committee for Immigrants in America, 95 Madison Avenue, 
New York city. 

However, shaping social institutions and relations is too 
great a task for one church. It needs the organized, the 
federated church of the town, the city, and the nation. 
Federations are demonstrating that this can be accomplished. 

III. Church Federation 

Federation is not an end in itself. But it is a means of 
uniting the power of the churches for greater successes than 
they could accomplish alone. Cooperation can seldom be se- 
cured or long continued without some recognized centralizing 
organization. 

How to Form a Federation 

It will be next to impossible to form such an organization, 
however, unless there is a large cooperative task on hand. 
This will give the purpose and necessity for organizing. The 
action agreed to should not crush the individuality of any 
church, but should insure union in operations. 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 95 

If there is a federation including some of the churches of 
your city, join with them. If not, proceed somewhat as 
follows : 

Talk over the matter with the two or three strongest men 
that you think will help. Call a public meeting in which the 
necessity of organizing shall be shown in relation to the par- 
ticular task to be undertaken. Have a brief address on the 
work before the churches, and another explaining how the 
federation can be formed and what its functions will be. 
Have the pastors and the official members of each church 
present. Give opportunity for discussion of the plan of 
organization and the program of work. Two or three men 
will be coached in advance to speak in its favor without being 
called on. Make it plain that the federation has no authority 
over the constituent bodies, but is a means of determining 
what those bodies can do unitedly. It writes no creed and 
changes no church polity. 

The representatives attending this meeting will usually de- 
sire to present the proposition to their churches for ratifica- 
tion. After this is done the pastors and church officials meet 
again to form the federation. They are called together by a 
Continuation Committee appointed by the previous meeting. 
The three or four leaders w r ho first advised together will have 
prepared the articles of agreement. It is well to invite the 
attendance of all people who will participate actively in the 
work. The agreement is reached and the task begun at this 
session. 

Aside from the main task there will be other matters of 
importance to be looked after ; such as, gambling in pool halls, 
juvenile delinquency, housing conditions, or unemployment. 
Some federations have a committee to cover each of these 
affairs ; other federations make each church responsible for 
all these matters in a specified territory adjacent to its location. 
Local conditions will indicate which method is preferable. 

Neither the federation as a whole nor the churches accept- 
ing such responsibility districts should attempt to plan a pro- 
gram of work without a survey. 



g6 THE WAY TO WIN 

Write the Federal Council of Churches for suggested con- 
stitution or for any advice concerning federation. 

What Your Federation Can Do 

Hints for your work may be found in a partial statement 
of what organized church effort has accomplished. It does 
not matter what name is applied to the organization, whether 
cooperation, affiliation, council, or federation — for they all 
mean the same thing and are used somewhat indiscriminately 
as to the degree of their organization. 

The Inter-church Federation of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, 
among other things, has eliminated the saloons from the 
county and has kept it dry for six years. 

The Church Federation of Saint Louis headed a campaign 
of evangelism in the churches that has brought in thousands 
of people in the last two years. During the past summer it 
has conducted street meetings, with the pastors preaching, and 
the results have been gratifying. The Federation has taken 
active part in the promotion of sound moral and social legis- 
lation, in the enforcement of the laws, and in a movement to 
abolish the so-called "segregated district," and has been to a 
large degree successful. It is coordinating the various church 
orphanages and institutions of like nature, and is inducing the 
denominations to provide such as are lacking at the present 
time. It aims to supply both spiritual and material needs to 
patients in the City Hospital. A number of the young ladies' 
societies of the churches are furnishing clothing for the chil- 
dren and babies of the City Hospital. A representative of the 
Federation is at the Juvenile Court to interest himself in the 
children involving Protestant families and others who may 
desire his help. The Big Brother Movement is carried on 
by the Federation. All of the Federations of the city, in- 
cluding those of the Catholics and Jews, come together in 
conference once a month. 

The Buffalo Federation of Churches has maintained a 
successful teacher-training institute, and has been instru- 
mental in the passage of an ordinance regulating both the 



COMMUNITY SERVICE 97 

public dance halls and the dancing schools. An additional 
truant officer, as well as additional probation officers, have 
been secured. 

The Federated Churches of Cleveland, through its Reli- 
gious Work Committee, put on a program of evangelism the 
past year, resulting in 7,400 accessions to the 200 churches 
that are federated. It is largely responsible for the abolish- 
ment of the segregated vice district of the city. Its investi- 
gations and its negotiations with the Common Pleas Judges 
have reduced divorces fifty per cent in Cuyahoga County. 

The Chicago Church Federation Council has been made 
responsible by the Association of Commerce of the city 
for recognition of every religious organization in the city. 
Hence it is impossible for any such organization to appeal to 
a member of the Association of Commerce unless it has been 
recommended by the Council. This cooperation with the 
Association has done much to eliminate illegitimate appeals 
for funds. This Council deserves most of the credit for 
defeating a measure in the State Legislature calculated to 
encourage prize fighting. The noted work of the Chicago 
Vice Commission was started by this Council. 

The Interdenominational Commission of Maine introduced 
in 1905 a plan of reciprocal exchanges between denomina- 
tions which has accomplished much good. The plan is this : 
when conditions warrant, one denomination surrenders its 
interests in a given town to another; in return, the first 
receives from the other a like concession in another locality. 
This is a desirable thing in scores of places in your State. 

Churches federate, then, not alone for social service but for 
cooperative efforts in all church work. 

In all social service or community work, we must never 
forget that as much as we do for these we do for Him, and 
in every lack of it, as much as we neglect to do for these 
we refuse to do for Him. 



IV 

MISSIONS 
TO SEND MEN OUT FOR CHRIST 



I. Unified Missionary Committee 
II. Church Missionary Survey 

III. The Program of Work 

IV. Mission Study Classes 

How to Start Classes 
How to Conduct Classes 

V. The Sunday School and Missions 

The Sunday School Missionary Society 

The Society at Work 

Courses of Instruction 

Missionary Giving 

Securing Missionary Recruits 

VI. Church Missionary Publicity 
VII. Missionary Prayer 
VIII. A Program of Finance 



IV 

MISSIONS 
TO SEND MEN OUT FOR CHRIST 

When a man's heart is transformed by the incoming of 
Christ his vision is notably elongated. He becomes able to 
see within himself as never before; but he acquires range 
of vision as well. He is enabled to see his community with 
its manifold needs. His eye reaches to the mountains where 
the American Highlanders live — people who would be among 
our best if given a fair chance. He discovers in the South- 
west three quarters of a million Mexicans walking the 
streets of our cities every Sunday without a religious service 
of any kind in their own language. He looks to Alaska and 
finds, among the Indians protected by our flag, twenty-five 
liquor shops for every church or mission. His sight has 
power to leap the oceans, and in India he sees one hundred 
thousand natives asking for baptism at the hands of the 
Methodist missionaries ; and they are refused because there 
are not sufficient preachers and teachers to train them in 
Christian doctrine and living. 

At home many young men and young women, of the best 
blood and brain in American colleges and theological semi- 
naries, are volunteering, "Here am I ; send me." The greatest 
need now is money to make both ends meet. Let the church 
that praises Christ for his salvation obey his commands and 
carry his power to every man everywhere ! 

I. Unified Missionary Committee 

The main factor in the missionary methods of the local 
church is the Unified Missionary Committee. This is com- 

iot 



102 THE WAY TO WIN 

posed of representatives of each missionary department of the 
parish, such as the chairmen of the Quarterly Conference 
Benevolence Committees, the president of the Sunday School 
Missionary Society, the second vice-president of the Epworth 
League, the superintendent of the Junior League, the presi- 
dents of the Woman's Home and Woman's Foreign Mission- 
ary Societies, and a member of the Methodist Brotherhood 
or other men's organization. This unites and correlates every 
parish interest which pertains to the propagation of the 
gospel at home or abroad. 

Such a plan does not necessarily depend upon a committee 
composed of experts. Every church has men and women 
who will respond to a definite challenge and a specific object 
which can be accomplished. Some of them will be more 
quickly interested than others. George H. Trull, in his 
Manual of Missionary Methods, says, "It is not absolutely 
necessary that they should know very much about missions 
at the start, but they should be eager to be informed." 

It is suggested that the committee meet at least once every 
month. After making a definite church-wide plan of mis- 
sionary activity it is most important to check up the working 
of the plan from time to time. Some phase of the plan may 
"be found unwise or out of keeping with what is being done 
by some other department of the church. By such periodical 
meetings every department will see how its work is tied up to 
and correlated with that of every other department. 

Enthusiasm. The committee must represent persons of 
enthusiasm and well-directed inspiration. They must be able 
to inject a contagious spirit into the whole membership, 
which may not represent a field of easy cultivation. There 
are special reasons why each member of the committee should 
be tactful and tenacious. There are still to be found in the 
average church too many people who "do not believe in 
missions." These cases require the consideration of the 
committee because their ability or their wealth is to be conse- 
crated to the Kingdom as an object of stewardship. 

Sometimes a church missionary committee has lost heart 



MISSIONS 103 

and discontinued its perfunctory meetings. It has failed be- 
cause it did not regard its task as supreme, or because its 
enthusiasm was transient. But its task is supreme, and each 
member of it must be a person who does not easily lose heart 
and whose enthusiasm endures. The average man does not 
regard himself as a brilliant leader, but if he is a man of 
convictions, of loyalty, and of trained enthusiasm, these 
qualities make him an ideal member for the missionary 
committee. 

Ordinary persons must be made more than ordinary dis- 
ciples of a task that glorifies service in the local church, 
transforms the life of the community, and broadens the 
sympathies of men in regard to Christ's will for the whole 
world. Such an understanding will solve the usual question, 
How can my church develop and conserve the services of a 
missionary committee? 

II. Church Missionary Survey 
The average local church really needs the information 
which a missionary survey supplies. The chapter on How 
to Make a Survey contains a workable definition which 
applies to that form of investigation conducted by the mis- 
sionary committee in the local church. 

If people are pitifully indifferent to church interests, it is 
often because no one has ever called their attention to them 
in an adequate way. A few years ago a pastor in a Western 
State ran through the records of his parish. He made a 
list of special workers who had gone out of that church as 
ministers, missionaries, deaconesses, or special secretaries. To 
his amazement, he discovered that four men and women had 
invested their lives in foreign service, two of whom were 
then in China. He found the names of three men who were 
ministers, two young women who were associated with 
American revivalists, and several other men who were serving 
Christian institutions of learning as instructors. 

This information was referred to the missionary committee. 
It was a signal for a general survey of missionary interests 



104 THE WAY TO WIN 

and needs. A bit of reckoning made an estimate of the 
number of missionary sermons which had been preached 
within a year and the number of monthly missionary prayer 
meetings conducted, as well as work done by study classes 
during a period of years. The survey included the number of 
missionary periodicals taken, and the number of maps, charts, 
curios, and lantern slides available. 

To the finance committee of the parish was referred the 
question respecting the total missionary giving of the past 
year as compared with the total constituency roll and with 
Methodism's average per capita gift of two cents a week 
for missionary and benevolent causes. 

The missionary committee made the survey within a week 
and reported to the pastor. This information was printed on 
cards and mailed to each member of the church and con- 
stituency. The pastor used it as the theme of a stirring 
message on Sunday morning. 

The investigation of conditions in that church was dis- 
tinctly valuable. The young people were moved to consider 
more seriously the subject of life investment, and they named 
their Bible classes after those men and women who had 
followed the colors and were on the firing line as their own 
representatives. 

A church with less than one hundred members was located 
in a farming community. A missionary committee believed 
that there was wealth there which had never been regarded 
as an object of stewardship. The committee was assisted 
by a bank cashier and the village clerk in estimating the 
total valuation of properties held by the membership, and 
the annual income from farms, business investments, and 
other sources. The committee then measured the total wealth 
and its annual income by the scale of the tithe. The dis- 
crepancy between the total amount paid into the church 
treasuries and the total amount represented by the tithe 
was a subject of prayer that week and for many weeks to 
come at the regular prayer service. 

It was clear that men had regarded apportionments as 



MISSIONS 105 

shields and hiding places. They had never measured their 
ability to give in a true way. These revelations were startling. 
To lead the people to do their duty, the membership must 
first know the magnitude of the task which represents the 
evangelization of the world. And they must better under- 
stand the means used to propagate the gospel at home and 
abroad. The committee, in conference with the pastor, deter- 
mined to use the information derived from the survey as a 
basis for organizing mission study classes. 

III. The Program of Work 

With the committee formed and the survey made, a chal- 
lenging program of work follows. A few suggestions may 
be helpful, but they are only suggestions; they lead on 
ahead, but the missionary committee should make its own 
plans as the survey has uncovered the need in the local church 
life. Determine to meet the challenge thrown down by that 
investigation with workable plans. This is a large task. But 
with the same measure of determination that characterizes a 
successful business project, whether it be in the city or in the 
country, a missionary committee makes its service an incal- 
culable asset to the ministry of the parish to its community, 
to its state or nation, and to the world. There is originality 
enough in the average local church to meet its own problems 
in its own way. The committee will be encouraged by re- 
membering that the best things are gradual developments. 
A local or homemade plan may be the best way of handling 
the situation. 

In planning this work do not overlook the field nearest at 
hand. Men and women are interested in how the other 
family lives. The Indian, the Negro, the "poor white," and 
the foreigner may be not only a problem but a neighbor in 
your parish. See what can be done for him. 

Good programs, suppers, institutes, conferences, and dra- 
matic productions featuring some missionary event are a 
real contribution to the educational program of the local 



106 THE WAY TO WIN 

church. Every meeting held, whether it is a supper meeting,, 
a study class, or a midweek monthly missionary meeting, must 
avoid the ruts. A rut is a grave with both ends lost, and it 
is never a route. A committee will be quick to observe that 
preliminaries can usually be omitted. Overloaded programs 
are sometimes guilty of murder. 

Make liberal use of literature. Get subscriptions to mis- 
sionary papers. Distribute missionary leaflets. Circulate 
missionary books. Display missionary publications on a stand 
where everyone may examine them. Hang charts and mottoes 
on the wall of the vestry or vestibule. Leave no stone 
unturned. 

A strong layman was converted to missions with the help 
of World Outlook. An address was made at the church by 
an outside speaker who dwelt largely upon missions. After 
a few days the pastor gave the layman a copy of this paper. 
Finding him interested in this magazine, the pastor requested 
him to give, in the next prayer meeting, three reasons on 
"Why I believe in Foreign Missions." Three were found in 
World Outlook, and in expressing them earnestly at the 
service, the man aroused himself to a warm personal interest 
in the cause. 

Every committee should enlist the help of the various 
benevolent boards, and especially the help of the Department 
of Missionary Education, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York city. 
This department offers new textbooks every year, which are 
prepared by the Missionary Education Movement and used by 
the Protestant churches in common. Helps for teaching each 
book are prepared. Programs and costume sketches are 
devised, based upon these textbooks. Stereopticon lectures, 
prayer meeting outlines, and sermon material are obtainable 
and will be found invaluable. 

The committee may determine on a parish supper as a place 
to concentrate interest in missions. Invite men, women, and 
children, thereby furthering the ideal of making the church 
a missionary unit. At such a supper announce a policy of 
missionary education for the entire membership to be applied 



MISSIONS 107 

during the year. Not all will be in study classes, but all 
should be reached by the various plans and methods. 

IV. Mission Study Classes 

Many pastors would be glad to have such classes if they 
knew how to get their people to study. 

Hozv to Start Classes 

A certain church found a way of creating a desire for 
study under a simple but interesting circumstance : the rail- 
way entering the town was laying new steel, and a gang of 
Greek and Italian laborers were living in freight cars near 
the depot. They were orderly men and patronized the village 
stores, always having the money to buy such goods as they 
desired. 

The church missionary committee decided to investigate 
their living conditions. The men were invited to enjoy the 
parish reading room. Some of the Italians spoke English, 
and frequently were entertaining groups of young people 
with stories of home life in Italy. The committee used this 
idea in organizing a class which began the study of the 
immigrant in America and also of the American Protestant 
missionary in Italy. 

An everyday illustration of the dependency of any com- 
munity upon the markets of the world suggested to a mis- 
sionary committee the link of human sympathy to the well 
denned educational program which was being developed in 
the local church. One of the transcontinental trunk lines 
frequently carried train loads of silk, tea, and rice from Cali- 
fornia ports to the mills of New England. These trains were 
conducted and driven by men who were members of that 
church in which the missionary committee was at work. These 
employees received their salaries from the railway company 
which was earning certain profits from its transportation costs. 
They became therefore related to the markets and trade rela- 



io8 THE WAY TO WIN 

tions between America and China. The storekeeper in selling 
goods to the trainmen became a partner to this scheme of 
dependent relationship, and another link was added to the 
chain that draws together more closely the average man at 
home with the average man across the sea. 

The committee skillfully used this leverage by raising certain 
leading questions pertaining to living conditions in the Orient 
and South America. Not only were mission study classes 
necessary, but the popular missionary magazine, World Out- 
look, was introduced and offered to the church as a whole. 

In some churches a missionary sermon by the pastor is 
sufficient to start a class. In other places the result could be 
reached by having a missionary discuss conditions in the 
logging camps, in India, in China, or wherever he may work. 
Some churches would be better moved by an address from 
a missionary worker who would suggest plans for the church 
in question. The Boards, the Missionary Education Move- 
ment, or the Laymen's Missionary Movement could furnish 
the speaker. If the church is shy of any such talks, the 
people who are desired in the class could be invited to a 
home, and there the outsider could in quiet conversation 
interest them. Outside help is not a necessity. Any person 
with vision, tact, and determination can find ways and means 
to secure a class. Stereopticon or moving pictures will aid. 

How to Conduct a Class 

1. It should be a small group of from six to fifteen persons. 

2. It should meet weekly for a course of four, eight, or 
twelve sessions. 

3. The class may be a part of some other regular class. 
That is, a class now in progress may make a study of missions 
for a stated time. These arrangements are advisable where 
the church is made up of "busy" people. Where combined 
study classes can be organized it is recommended rather than 
sacrifice either class entirely. It may be combined with the 
devotional service of the Epworth League, with the Brother- 



MISSIONS 109 

hood weekly meeting, with the midweek prayer service, or 
with the adult Bible class. 

4. One leader should be in charge throughout the entire 
course. His familiarity with the subject and his growing 
acquaintance with the class enables him to plan his work to 
meet the needs. If a detained student volunteer is available, 
use him as the teacher. 

5. The text may be Rising Churches in Non-Christian 
Lands, by Arthur J. Brown ; The New Era in Asia, by Sher- 
wood Eddy; The Social Aspects of Foreign Missions, by 
W. H. P. Faunce ; The Churches at Work, by Charles L. 
White ; Immigrant Forces, by William P. Shriver ; or The 
Church of the Open Country, by Warren H. Wilson. 

Men who are not interested in missions from .a religious 
point of view will be pleased with the social, educational, in- 
dustrial, and medical work treated in President Faunce's book. 
The Bible of course is the greatest missionary book. The 
book of the Acts of the Apostles is an excellent text. 

6. The class should aim at some definite action. It may be 
to develop eagerness to serve individually, or to train other 
leaders, or to create a sense of responsibility as a class or as a 
church. 

A church in Wilkesbarre was feeling the lack of organized 
mission study classes. The minister challenged the Epworth 
League to fill each of the twelve Sunday school classrooms 
with study classes on Sunday evening, an hour before evening- 
service. His challenge was accepted, and the classes were 
quickly organized. Different texts were used. To the class 
having a perfect attendance during the entire course of eight 
weeks of study a banquet was tendered. During the winter 
the average attendance numbered 140 persons. After forty- 
five minutes of study and discussion the classes met together 
for a closing service of prayer and worship. At this time 
some one from each class gave a summary of the lesson. This 
summary was given by a different person each time. 

A similar plan worked by another pastor doubled the League 
attendance the first winter, and trebled it the second. 



no THE WAY TO WIN 

Another church successfully launched a series of study 
classes for men. These were held in business offices down- 
town and in private homes. The leaders were business men. 
The meetings held in business offices met at eight o'clock one 
morning of each week, the men leaving home a half hour 
earlier. This series continued for nine weeks, and from these 
classes were secured the men who made the every member 
canvass for the financial budget each year. 

V. The Sunday School and Missions 

Of all forms of church organization the Sunday school is 
supreme in its possibilities for service. 

When parents, teachers, ministers, and other Christian 
workers desire to educate a generation of children and youth 
with the ideals and practice of Christian living, this twofold 
idea must be acknowledged: (i) Those who teach and lead 
must give missions a central place in their own thinking and 
living; and (2) Missionary educational methods and material 
used must bear central relation to all of those processes 
whereby children and youth are guided into complete Chris- 
tian living. 

Missionary education has a place in the Sunday school both 
for the sake of the church of the future and for immediate 
results. The following represents a definite missionary policy 
for the local church which is to be determined and directed 
by the Sunday School Missionary Society. 

The Sunday School Missionary Society 

It is the requirement of the Discipline and one of the points 
of the missionary standard established by the Board of Sun- 
day Schools that each school be organized as a Missionary 
Society. The Discipline, paragraph 565, section 2, edition 1912, 
suggests a constitution for such a society. 

The officers of the society are a president, a vice-president, 
a secretary, and a treasurer, who constitute a Board of Man- 
agers and are elected annually by the Sunday School Board. 



MISSIONS in 

The organization of the society and the development of its 
work demand real flesh and blood. There must be a definite 
somebody. The first duty of the Board of Managers is to 
outline a missionary policy for the Sunday school and a plan 
to make that policy effective. In this it will have the assist- 
ance of the Unified Missionary Committee. Addresses, pro- 
grams, missionary training for the teachers, missionary equip- 
ment for the departments — all must be considered. 

Each officer of the society is assigned to a special work. 
One undertakes to develop the spirit of prayer in the Sunday 
school and to secure prayer cycles and definite topics for 
intercession. Another becomes responsible for the missionary 
benevolences and a collecting device. The divided envelope 
is now recommended for use in the Sunday school. The third 
officer secures maps and charts, arranges for blackboard work, 
handles missionary books and leaflets, collects and posts 
missionary news from missionary periodicals or other maga- 
zines, and also receives subscriptions for them. The fourth 
conducts missionary plays, expositions, and exhibits, and 
secures scenery, costumes, curios, and decorations for them. 
He should also have material on hand explaining the "Master 
Missionary Photographs" for wall decorations in churches, 
parish houses, chapels, libraries, and private homes. 

These supplies may be procured through the Department of 
Missionary Education. 

Courses of Instruction 

An adequate program of missionary work for the local 
church whether in the Sunday school or elsewhere will include 
work for every person of the congregation — boys and girls, 
young men and women, and adults. The material and 
methods adopted must be adapted to the needs, interests, and 
capabilities of the different ages. 

Uniform Lessons. In case the Sunday school does not 
adopt the Graded Lessons, the missionary society should urge 
the teachers to provide mission study as a part of their year's 



ii2 THE WAY TO WIN 

work. Material has been prepared and is available for im- 
mediate use. 

Graded Lessons. In so far as the congregation is repre- 
sented in the Sunday school, there is no better method of 
reaching all its members than by the adoption in the Sunday 
school of a study curriculum which makes provision for mis- 
sionary instruction as an essential part of the course. The 
International Graded Lessons, now used by most communions, 
contain missionary lessons for the primary, junior, intermedi- 
ate, and senior grades. These, of course, often need supple- 
mental work. 

Without going into too much detail, it is necessary to know 
something about the natural characteristics and interests of 
the different ages. 

Beginners: Age 4 to 6 Years. The children of this depart- 
ment are characterized as being curious, active, imitative, and 
imaginative. Colored pictures and motion songs for this age 
are of good use. 

Primaries: Age 6 to 8 Years. The same characteristics 
are to be found in this group, but in addition the social instinct 
is marked — they play with other children. And this is known 
as the memory age. They are interested keenly in pictures. 
Such stories as The Great Big World, A Missionary Walk in 
the Zoo, On the Camel's Back, and A Visit to the Crocodiles, 
may be secured from the Foreign Missionary Library, 156 
Fifth Avenue, New York city. Other material to be used 
are postcards depicting life on the frontier, in the Southland, 
or in foreign fields ; curio boxes containing interesting collec- 
tions from mission stations; sand trays for modeling; story- 
books for home reading; and pictures. 

Juniors: Age 9 to 12 Years. The physical development of 
this group is slow. The child has not learned continued con- 
centration, but he is beginning to use his reasoning powers. 
He is influenced by commanding characters. Stories of the 
Christ are most suitable. This too is a memory period. The 
child is interested in nature, in folk stories, stamps, coins, 
and eggs. The materials to be used are maps, charts, pictures, 



MISSIONS 113 

curios, and scrapbooks. The Livingstone Hero Stories, Old 
Country Hero Stories, and Children at Play in Many Lands, 
are some of the most helpful books. Everyland is a monthly 
illustrated magazine for boys and girls from ten to fifteen 
years of age. It contains true stories about children in all 
lands. 

Intermediates: Age 13 to 16 years. This is the beginning 
of the adolescent age. The critical interests are awakened. 
The boy or girl is interested in legendary characters and 
pioneers ; and develops a strong hero-worship. The "gang" 
spirit follows, and loyalty to a club or any team organization 
suggests the study of Uganda's White Man of Work, an auto- 
biography of Alexander Mackay, and Under Marching Orders, 
a story of the life of Mary Porter Gamewell. Biographies 
take well. Impersonations appeal to the boys and girls of this 
period in preparation for special programs. 

Seniors: Age 16 to 19 years. The characteristics of early 
adolescence are continued, but an appeal to reason and an 
identity with a larger social life leads the boy or girl of this 
period to set his own standards of life. Creative imagination 
and a logical memory become stronger. Plays of missionary 
character utilize these talents. Servants of the King, by 
Robert E. Speer, is a book containing eleven biographical 
sketches of home and foreign missionaries. These sketches 
are intended to show young men and women the devotion and 
sacrifice which has marked these heroes of the Cross. 

Adult and Home Departments. A study of social, moral, 
and religious conditions in non-Christian lands are the natural 
subjects which appeal to the adult. Textbooks mentioned 
on page 109 should be used. 

Missionary Giving 

The financial condition of the Church to-day is a result of 
the training or lack of training in the last generation. The 
giving in the future will result from the training or lack of 
training of the present. 

The Sunday school is also a factor in present-day financial 



H4 THE WAY TO WIN 

problems. In developing a plan of missionary giving in the 
Sunday school two objectives must be kept in mind — the im- 
mediate needs of the treasuries which are depending in part 
upon the Sunday school for funds to propagate their work, 
and the development of such habits of giving that even larger 
resources will be available in the future. 

The large sums which have gone annually into the treas- 
uries of our benevolent boards from the Sunday school have 
been given largely as a result of a systematic plan of monthly 
offerings. That plan should be improved by the weekly offer- 
ing in a divided envelope. 

Subscriptions. A subscription basis is necessary in carry- 
ing on the work of the church and there are many reasons 
why it can be introduced into the Sunday school. Parents 
should be consulted when subscriptions are taken from chil- 
dren. The Elm Park Sunday School of Scranton, Pennsyl- 
vania, reports an average annual gift of over seventy cents 
per capita as the result of the use of pledge cards. 

Envelope System. The experience of most Sunday schools 
shows that an envelope system of some kind is of definite 
value. More and more Sunday schools are using the divided 
envelope as it is becoming the recognized envelope for church 
use ; and the question is naturally asked, ''Why teach the child 
one method in church and another in the Sunday school ?" 
One Sunday school increased its offering by this method 295 
per cent. 

It is advised that the Sunday school expenses become a part 
of the regular budget of the church, and that every member 
of the Sunday school be informed why money is needed for 
the support of the church and the benevolent organizations. 
The children and young people are canvassed the same as 
any church member. The envelopes may be given in the 
church service or the Sunday school service as the contributor 
may choose. Whether this plan would increase the gifts or 
not, it would teach the fact that the Sunday school is a part 
of the church. Children would be giving to the church from 
the first and would naturally continue as they mature. Some 



MISSIONS 115 

schools are supported by the church, and the whole Sunday- 
school offering is given to missions. 

Giving is to be placed on the plane of worship. A Scripture 
offering service is sometimes used, permitting the class treas- 
urers to bring the offering to the altar or platform, the service 
closing with prayer. This makes the giving of the school a 
real part of worship. 

The total missionary giving of the Sunday schools of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church approximates $600,000 annually. 
It is a large total, but means a per capita giving of only 
fifteen cents annually, or one and one quarter cents per month. 

Securing Missionary Recruits 

Child life is plastic and pliable; it is capable of receiving 
the deepest impressions ; it is susceptible to being directed into 
the highest paths of life. Missionary instruction accom- 
plishes the most lasting good and makes the most effective 
appeal at this age. 

A large majority of the world's greatest ministers and mis- 
sionaries have been turned in the direction of their lifework 
before they were twenty, and many by the time they were 
eighteen years of age. Livingstone was called at nineteen, 
Thoburn at seventeen, James Chalmers at fifteen while attend- 
ing Sunday school, and Morrison received his appointment 
when only a little past twenty. 

The church was organized to save the world. In order to 
attain its ultimate aim the church must constantly be re- 
cruited. Training is a matter of youth. Eighty per cent of 
our church membership comes from the Sunday school, and 
at least eighty per cent of our needed reenforcements will 
come from it. In Methodism alone there are over four 
millions in the Sunday school. It is a vast army and capable 
of vastly increased efficiency and power. 

To tell a class of boys or girls about Jason Lee or William 
Taylor is to set a high and tangible ideal for Christian living 
and service. To gain a knowledge of the inspiring progress 
of Christian conquest in India or in the new republic of China 



n6 THE WAY TO WIN 

is to gain a broader conception of the purpose of the church 
and a clearer appreciation of the program of our Lord. To 
see the tremendous problem of the homeland, the success of 
Christian work as a factor in our civilization, is an inspiration 
to be a better Christian. 

The Bible is a missionary book, and the church is recogniz- 
ing this fact more and more. The life of Jesus on earth was 
missionary; and nearly all of the New Testament was written 
by busy missionaries. 

All of these accumulative sources of inspiration and power 
may be converged to impress upon young life the importance 
of investing every ability for the Kingdom. Service, there- 
fore, becomes a natural issue. There is abundant proof that 
missionary instruction has helped to recruit hundreds and 
thousands of Christian workers. On this ground alone mis- 
sionary education would hold a rightful place in the Sunday 
school. 

VI. Church Missionary Publicity 

The evangelization of the world is not only the business 
of the church but it concerns everyone. The history of Chris- 
tian missions is really important news; to be ignorant of 
it and of its present-day meaning is a strange comment on the 
professed intelligence of the average man. The purpose of 
missionary publicity is not to advertise a mission study class, 
but to educate people concerning missions as a study class 
also does. 

Nearly every daily paper published in the United States 
prints "church news" in the Saturday edition. A certain mis- 
sionary committee was audacious enough to write a good 
story about their plans and send it to the newspapers of the 
town. It was not only published, but a request was made by 
the editors that similar material be furnished frequently. This 
led the way for using the newspaper to feature special efforts 
which the parish was making. The committee used great care 
in writing these stories. Precept and preachment were 
omitted. Connectional incidents were given special attention 



MISSIONS 117 

in order to give the story local flavor. The newspaper thus 
became a force which stood for those civilizing virtues which 
missionary activity represents everywhere. 

A committee can do its own reporting of its program of 
work. Accuracy and brevity are two lines to follow in writ- 
ing newspaper stories. When the committee is to make a 
survey or assist in the annual canvass for benevolences, data 
and experiences make good "copy" for local news. The world 
is a bewitching topic and people like to read about it. 

One rural pastor believing in publicity determined upon 
those subjects which ought to be included in a program of 
this kind, and arranged with the editors of three daily news- 
papers in a city ten miles away for furnishing a weekly news 
story concerning the work which his parish was attempting to 
carry on. The effect was twofold : it aroused community and 
even State-wide interest in the affairs of this rural churchy 
and it also made the church responsible for carrying out in a. 
successful way the plans which had been made public. 

VII. Missionary Prayer 

In attempting a program for missions in the local church it 
is necessary to recognize the large place that prayer holds in: 
the administration of ever}' interest that affects the extension 
of the Kingdom. 

To make prayer for missions intelligent one must know 
the facts of missionary progress, both home and foreign, pray 
for individual missionaries, stations, pastors, and other work- 
ers, and feel constantly a close relation to the work carried on 
by these forces. Lists should be made of persons for whom 
prayer is to be made, including those who ought to be brought 
to Christ. Definite objects written down in notebooks greatly 
aid in making the prayer life a reality. 

The prayer meeting should group its intercession once a 
month around certain missionaries, missionary conferences 
and institutions, and special needs of the boards. 

In connection with this whole missionary educational pro- 



n8 THE WAY TO WIN 

gram, prayer depends upon knowledge and facts. Prayer for 
the individual missionary, for the station, or for the secre- 
taries who are directing the work must depend upon some 
definite acquaintance with men and conditions. Keep the 
people acquainted with the situation. 

Further helps on prayer are found in Chapter II. 

VIII. A Program of Finance 

No department of missionary methods has had greater 
development during the past few years than that of finance. 
A new application of the scriptural method has been made 
with great success. Ineffective sporadic methods have been 
supplanted by a system which is reaching the last man and 
woman and child. 

This comprehensive program of finance, while devised by 
missionary leaders, and spread by missionary agencies, has 
come to be so vital to the whole life of the church that it is 
given an entire chapter in this book. 

If a canvass has been made for current expenses alone and 
the local budget thus provided for, a separate canvass for 
missions and benevolences should be arranged, the ordinary 
envelope be replaced with the divided envelope, and the entire 
system of local church finances based upon the new method. 
This was done in a rural New England town and, although 
it was done five months after the beginning of the fiscal year, 
it increased the benevolent offerings by half. Without any 
mention of current expenses, this special missionary canvass 
increased the offering for the local budget twenty-two per 
cent. 

Gifts for Foreign Missions 

A church may determine to have its own "Parish Abroad'' 
and its own mission workers or a frontier memorial church 
in the home land. The pastor and the missionary committee 
may arrange the details of such a plan with the various mis- 
sionary boards which represent the work outlined. They 



MISSIONS 119 

provide a living link with the mission field and the church 
or individual. 

For supporting special work in the foreign field two plans 
have been evolved : the "Parish Abroad Plan" and the "Special 
Gift Plan." Each of these provides a way for the church 
or individual to contribute toward some particular work and 
to receive reports from the field as to the work their gifts 
are supporting. A brief explanation of the two plans is here 
given : 

Parish Abroad. Upon request the Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions will assign to a church, organization, or individual, 
a foreign parish. This may be the support of a missionary 
or the support of a district, or it may be only a part of 
such support. In either case the donors assume responsi- 
bility for providing the funds to support some work for which 
the Board has previously been responsible. Because this much 
of the Board's responsibility is assumed by this special agency, 
regular credit can be allowed on the apportionment for foreign 
missions for that church. The Board will secure quarterly 
reports from the missionary in charge and will send these 
reports to those in America whose gifts support that work. 
The term "work" applied to a district includes all the expenses 
incident to carrying on the work of a district, such as salaries 
of missionaries, salaries of native workers, itinerating ex- 
penses, taxes, repairs, and insurance on property, or rent of 
land for chapels. The support of a married missionary is 
from $1,000 to $1,400; a single missionary, $700 to $850. The 
support of the work of a district varies from one to several 
thousand dollars. 

District work is also divided into shares of $50 each, and 
one or more shares or a half share may be assigned to a 
donor. 

Special Gifts. By the "Special Gift Plan" the church or 
individual may designate the work or worker to which it is 
desired the money shall go. The Board receives these special 
gifts and forwards them to the field to be used as requested. 
Special gifts are sent to carry on definite work, and this work 



120 THE WAY TO WIN 

is in addition to that for which the Board is responsible. Be- 
cause of this, regular credit for special gifts is not allowed 
to the church on its apportionment for foreign missions. By 
this plan the individual may choose the kind of work which 
appeals to him most strongly, and he may keep in direct touch 
with the work he is supporting by means of correspondence 
directly with the missionary who is administering his gift. 
He may support his own missionary (amounts given in pre- 
vious paragraph), a native ordained preacher, $100 to $240; 
a native evangelist, $40 to $100; a native teacher, $40 to $360; 
a boy in school, $15 to $40; or he may build a chapel or church 
at $100 to $10,000. If interested in medical work, he may 
support a hospital bed, $30 up ; or a trained nurse or medical 
assistant, $120 to '$300. 

Gifts for Home Missions and Church Extension 

The Board of Home Missions and Church Extension can 
build a church in Porto Rico or 'the Philippines with a gift 
of $50; $100 will enable it to erect among the American High- 
landers a church worth from $300 to $500 above the value of 
the ground. On the frontier it can build with $250 an edifice 
worth $1,250 above the value of the ground. 

Gifts for Freedmeris Aid 

The Freedmen's Aid Society can educate a boy or girl for 
$80 to $100 per year, and help educate one for less. $400 will 
support an instructor ; $30 will furnish a dormitory room. 

Gifts for Board of Sunday Schools 

$1,000 invested in the Board of Sunday Schools will or- 
ganize ten new Sunday schools, establish eight new preaching 
places, organize two new churches, develop one new circuit, 
erect one and one half new buildings. 

Gifts for American Bible Society 

$i.t)0 will supply 100 Gospels in English; 1,700 sheet Gospels 
in China, or 20 Testaments in America. 



MISSIONS 121 

$10 will circulate 60 Bibles, or enable two blind persons to 
own raised-letter New Testaments. 

$100 will employ 2 colporteurs one year in Asia, publish 
2,000 New Testaments or 10,000 Gospels, or support an 
assistant translator in Asia at least four months. 

$150 will publish 10 Bibles for the Blind, employ a col- 
porteur three months in the United States. 

All these offerings should go 'through the boards, rather 
than to the fields direct. 



V 
LOCAL CHURCH ORGANIZATION 



I. The Pastor the Leader 
II. A Pastor's Cabinet 
IIL Six Church Committees 

The Committee on Evangelism 

The Committee on Training 

The Committee on Community Service 

The Committee on Missions 

The Committee on Publicity 

The Committee on Finance 

IV. A Unified Policy 



LOCAL CHURCH ORGANIZATION 

The most natural channels through which a unified pro- 
gram may be made effective are the organizations now pro- 
vided for. The unification of these is the main necessity. The 
suggestions of this book may be accomplished by taking the 
Quarterly Conference as the central organization which will 
put into practice the features outlined under the various 
phases of work, and simplifying the committees through which 
it operates. The existing organizations should be vitalized and 
correlated, not destroyed. 

A simple plan for the unification of the present local church 
organization follows : 

I. The Pastor the Leader 

It is by the pastor's appointment that committees are officially 
recognized, and he is the leader in chief. The appointment 
of efficient committees will require a clear comprehension of 
the task and a true appreciation of such qualifications as are 
essential to committee membership. The pastor must know 
how to lead men and "do things" as well as he knows 
theology. 

II. A Pastor's Cabinet 

The pastor should have a Cabinet composed of the president 
of the Board of Trustees, the superintendent of the Sunday 
school, and the heads of all other departmental organizations 
as now provided. The chairmen of the following six church 
committees, if not in the above list, are also members of this 
Cabinet. This Cabinet is expected to make a careful study 

125 



126 THE WAY TO WIN 

of the opportunities and activities of the entire church and 
to plan the whole work of the church as treated in the pre- 
vious chapters. 

III. Six Church Committees 

Committees are to be appointed by the pastor after con- 
sultation with the Cabinet and the various organizations, and 
approved by the Quarterly Conference. A strong committee 
is necessary on each of the four phases of work — Evangelism, 
Training, Community Service, and Missions ; and if the work 
is to be made known to and supported by the community, com- 
mittees on Publicity and Finance are essential. These will 
assume or superintend the work of the usual Quarterly Con- 
ference Committees. 

The Committee on Evangelism 

This committee includes in its membership the deaconess, 
the first vice-president of the Epworth League, a Brotherhood 
officer, and representatives of other departments which give 
special attention to evangelistic work. 

The Committee on Training 

This committee naturally includes the superintendent of the 
Sunday school, the superintendent of the Junior League, and 
others interested. The educative functions of the Committee 
on Sunday Schools and of the Committee on Education are 
exercised by this committee. Their money functions are 
cared for by the Finance Committee. The Sunday School 
Board should always work in cooperation with this committee. 
The same should be said regarding the Music Committee. To 
this committee is also delegated the examining of local 
preachers. 

The Committee on Community Service 

This committee includes representatives from that depart- 
ment of the Brotherhood, the Department of Social Service 



LOCAL CHURCH ORGANIZATION 127 

of the Epworth League, the Ladies' Aid Society, the Board 
of Stewards, the deaconess, and other individuals and organi- 
zations which have to do with community betterment and 
relief. 

The Committee on Missions 

This committee is made up of the president of the Sunday 
School Missionary Society, the second vice-president of the 
Epworth League, the president of the Women's Home and 
Foreign Missionary Societies, and representatives from other 
local church missionary agencies. This committee gathers up 
the duties of the several benevolent committees usually 
appointed at the fourth Quarterly Conference and correlates 
the missionary efforts of the several departments of the 
church. If these several committees are retained, they should 
work at the direction of this Central Committee, their chair- 
men being members of the latter. This constitutes the Unified 
Missionary Committee mentioned in Chapter IV. 

The Committee on Publicity 

If the local press or the church paper is approached by a 
half dozen different committees with ill-digested and only 
partial reports, it will tend to confusion and lessen the proba- 
bilities of securing space. A small committee on publicity 
will be a newsgathering agency, a clearing house, and an 
editorial board. Cooperation in the work of all the depart- 
ments will make it possible for this committee to give the 
public a unified, comprehensive, and compelling story. It will 
apply to every phase of work of the methods outlined in the 
chapter on "Successful Church Advertising." 

The Committee on Finance 

The Committee on Finance should include the treasurer, a 
steward, a trustee, and others if desired. Get a keen banker 
or business man on it without fail. This committee oversees 
the work of the Estimating, Parsonage, and Auditing com- 
mittees, as well as supervises the raising of money. 



128 THE WAY TO WIN 

This cares for all the committee work of the Quarterly 
Conference. The pastor is ex officio a member of each com- 
mittee. If any one insists that the committees be appointed as 
formerly, the advantages of this new arrangement are in some 
churches secured by naming the same members on the com- 
mittees it is desired to consolidate. 

IV. A Unified Policy 

After careful investigation of the needs, opportunities, and 
equipment, each committee should devise a quarterly program 
of work to be placed before the pastor's Cabinet. The Cabinet 
should consider these each in the light of the other four, 
properly correlate them, revise them if necessary, and present 
them to the Quarterly Conference. Then the Quarterly Con- 
ference will adopt a program for the ensuing quarter. At the 
fourth Quarterly Conference a general program for the 
following year will be adopted. These policies should be 
printed and distributed. 

Quarterly Conferences usually have come together to hear 
reports rather than for the planning of definite, aggressive 
work. At the beginning of the fiscal year the list of com- 
mittees was read publicly before the congregation, printed on 
the bulletin, or posted in the vestibule. Usually these fourteen 
committees either failed to take the appointment seriously or 
avoided the responsibility that committee work demands. The 
adoption of a unified and worth-while policy will prevent over- 
lapping, and the task will loom so large in the mind of the 
entire church body that it will challenge the membership to a 
far larger enlistment in service. 

Where the Quarterly Conference has organized an official 
board the work of the latter is best conducted under the 
organization recommended above. 

When two or more appointments are represented in a 
Quarterly Conference the official board on each appointment 
will organize its work on the same plan. 



VI 
HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 



I. Home Survey 
II. Community Survey 

A. The Information 

General 

Public Utilities 

Education 

Recreations 

Moral 

Delinquency and Correction 

Labor 

Immigrants 

Housing 

Health 

Charities 

B. How to Conduct a Community Survey 

Purpose 

Subjects Covered 
Territory Covered 
Who Shall Do the Work? 
Make it Their Survey 
Get Expert Advice 
Instruct the Assistants 
The Executive Committee 
Presenting the Reports 
Interpret the Figures 
The Program of Work 
Work the Program 
The Average Church 
The Rural Survey 

III. The Church Survey 

IV. Special Surveys 

Surveys By Mail 

Saloon Survey 

Sheds 

Children's Recreation 



VI 
HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 

This book is not written with the expectation that the 
reader will undertake every plan that it proposes. Each one 
must do the thing that his situation demands. A fundamental 
prerequisite for success is a thorough knowledge of the 
church and its neighborhood. The effort to secure it is 
dignified by the name survey, but this word need frighten no 
one. A speaker at the Ohio Convention of Methodist Men 
defined the survey as "A calm, clear look into one's com- 
munity to see what is there." Without such an effort we are 
blind leaders of the blind. 

Some men define a survey as a diagnosis. If this word is 
used, it must be remembered that sound parts are to be 
sought as well as diseased, assets as well as liabilities, gains 
as well as losses. Assets often remain undiscovered. Twenty 
years ago there were almost no hard roads in Lake County, 
Illinois, although it adjoins the county in which the city of 
Chicago is located. The people said it cost too much to get 
the rock shipped in. Any pessimist could have calculated the 
miles of dirt road in that county. But an optimist came and 
located gravel beds at several places within the county, 
showing that God wanted the people to have good roads. God 
wants people to have a lot of things. Look around and see 
what He is offering you. 

For church purposes surveys may be spoken of more or less 
arbitrarily as home surveys, community surveys, and church 
surveys. The first secures information mainly concerning 
individuals and their family life. It is sometimes called a 
"religious census." The second concerns mainly their work 
and environment. The third treats more particularly the 

131 



. 



132 THE WAY TO WIN 

church activities and results. These three are often com- 
bined in varying proportions. 

I. Home Survey 

This includes the following items concerning each indi- 
vidual in a family : name ; home address and telephone 
number; business address and telephone number; age; mar- 
ried, single, or widowed; place of church membership or 
attendance ; Sunday school membership ; prayer meeting 
attendance ; church preference ; attending or has attended 
what school or college; vocation or business of each one 
employed ; position in business ; public office held ; political 
preference; public welfare work done; lodges attended; mem- 
bership in other organizations; athletic interest; talent (such 
as speaking, music, art). To these may be added others, 
according to the purpose in mind. It is not well to neglect 
any of these, for the information may be more valuable 
than one at first thinks. 

The following hints will be helpful in making this survey : 
i. Have a definite purpose. One will find more value in a 
survey than he anticipates, but he surely should get informa- 
tion that will enable him to work intelligently. He will desire 
to know, for example, the Christian experience of his parish- 
ioners, the church relations of those not members of churches 
in the neighborhood, the needs of the parish, and other 
information. He should decide to survey, not the church 
membership only, but the entire parish. This embraces all 
the people named on the constituency roll as outlined in the 
chapter on Evangelism. 

2. The next step is to choose the leaders. If the list to be 
surveyed is not large, one man may be able to do it alone. 
The minister may do it conveniently in connection with his 
pastoral calling. A layman can do it as well if he will. It will 
be more effective, however, for two men to go together. 

If there are other churches in the community, seek their 
cooperation. A home survey made cooperatively by the de- 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 133 

nominations disarms suspicion, prevents proselytism, and in- 
sures thorough work. 

3. Where possible, have the laymen of the church make the 
survey. Send the men out in pairs as in an every member 
canvass. If these men are coached, they will do the work as 
well as the ministers, and will release them for other work. 
The great advantage of this is that it enlists the laymen in 
the program of work that will follow the survey. It is often 
the case that the laymen discover what the program should be. 
No one will fail to see the value of this. If laymen outside 
the Sunday school can be secured, this will help to divide 
the total task of the church among the lay members ; but if 
they cannot be secured, the Sunday school teachers may be 
willing to undertake the task, each visiting the families repre- 
sented in his class. 

4. If the laymen or teachers are not apparently willing to 
undertake it, the pastor may make a home survey of the 
church members. When he presents the results, the workers 
will see the the value of it and may then be willing to make 
a similar survey of the community. If his survey presents 
the wealth of the members, and the disparity between the 
tithe of their income and what they are giving the Lord, the 
workers will want to survey the parish and find its untouched- 
assets. 

5. Arrange a meeting of the helpers at which they may 
learn and discuss the purpose, plan, method, and spirit of the 
surve}'. The names on the constituency roll may be appor- 
tioned to the workers at this meeting. 

6. Secure printed forms on which the information may be 
kept in uniform style. Cards three by five inches, or five by 
eight, have been found convenient and can be filed alpha- 
betically for reference. Loose-leaf printed forms are also 
available, and these may be kept in a ring- or snap-binder. It 
may be well to have the blanks ready to distribute at the 
meeting mentioned in the previous paragraph. The blanks 
may be adapted if this seems necessary. Blanks may be 
secured from the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 156 



134 THE WAY TO WIN 

Fifth Avenue, New York city; or from the Rev. Richmond 
A. Smith, secretary of the Iowa Baptist Country Church Com- 
mission, Cedar Falls, Iowa. If a special form is desired, it 
can be printed locally. 

7. Some publicity usually attaches to the home survey. If 
the pastor makes it, an informal announcement may be 
sufficient, or none may be necessary. If it is made by team 
work in a specified time, advertise it in advance and let 
everyone know what is going on and what the purpose is. See 
the chapter on Publicity. This implies that a worth-while 
program of work will follow the survey. 

II. Community Survey 

A community survey is very different in content, but no 
less Christian in purpose. It is indispensable to the successful 
prosecution of the spiritual office of the church. No society 
is Christian that fails to put the leaven, as Christ did, into 
every phase of life — physical, social, and industrial, as well 
as ecclesiastical and spiritual. To do this the situation must 
be known so thoroughly that it can be recorded in black and 
white. Some will challenge the record — it is surprising how 
few people know the facts. A certain minister who has served 
one rural parish longer than most men preach, ought to know 
the situation, but he told the editor of a Methodist paper that 
there is no rural problem. He said he had solved the so- 
called rural problems by preaching the gospel and persistently 
presenting it to the individual's need in his pastoral calling. 
When the editor printed that statement the other pastor in 
that town stated that there were ninety-five voters in the 
township, and only eight of them were in the one church 
and thirteen in the other. 

A. THE INFORMATION 

General 

What is the area surveyed? (Follow United States Census 
Enumeration Districts.) 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 135 

What is the population per acre, in rural places? Per hun- 
dred feet of floor space, in city places? 

Is the territory rural? Factory district? Residential? Retail 
district? Wholesale? Number of each kind of factory, 
store, warehouse, etc. 

What business associations are there? Membership of each? 
Purpose of each? 

Do the people patronize mail-order houses largely? 

What are the resources of the community? Soil? Timber? 
Minerals? Factories? Water-power? Average value per 
acre of the farm land near? Five miles distant? Increase 
in past ten years? 

Is this territory governed by aldermen? Commissioners? 
Trustees? Select men? Supervisors? Name these officers. 
What is the character of each? Is the community con- 
trolled by political influence? If so, what? 

What is the tax rate? The total expenditure? Per capita cost 
of the government? What per cent of the expenditure is 
allowed to each department of government ? Is this division 
according to the present needs? Wise for future develop- 
ments ? 

Is the community interested in civic affairs? What per cent 
of the male voters have voted in the last three elections? 
What per cent of women voters? Is there a village im- 
provement society? Civic league? Other similar organiza- 
tions ? 

Public Utilities 

Transportation: Steam? Electric? Waterways? Are there 

any grade crossings ? How many? How are they guarded? 
Telephone Service: Is it sufficient? How many parties on 

each rural line? Where are new lines needed? Is there 

more than one telephone company? 
Mail Service: Are there carriers? How many? How many 

deliveries a day? Where should new routes be established? 

What increase in the number of newspapers, farm papers, 



136 THE WAY TO WIN 

and other periodicals taken since the establishment of the 
rural routes? 

Newspapers: How many dailies? How many others? Char- 
acter of each? Price of each? Are they under political 
domination ? 

Police : Number (the general average in one per iooo popu- 
lation) ? Are they assisted by detectives? Are there any 
women police officers? Are the police the friends of the 
hoys, or enemies? What do they do to prevent crime as 
well as to suppress or punish it? 

Fire Department: What equipment does it have? Are auto 
trucks and engines used? Horse-drawn? Is the force 
voluntary or paid? Are the buildings in the business dis- 
tricts fireproof? 

Water Works : What parts of the given territory are reached 
by the water works? What is the pressure in the higher 
areas? Is there any contamination at the source that makes 
it unfit for drinking purposes? What is the source? 

Lighting: What system of lighting does the locality have? 
Is it adequate? Are lights provided all night? What per 
cent of the homes have electric lights? What per cent 
gas lights? 

Parks: How many? Are these sufficient? How located with 
reference to density of population and need? Are they 
attractive? Are they connected by boulevards? 

Streets : How paved ? Kept clean ? Cleaned by .hand or by 
machinery ? 

Get the reports from the department of the government for 
the last year or two. In how many departments is civil 
service examination necessary to employment? 

Which public utilities are publicly owned? Which privately 
owned? 

Education 

How many schools are there ? Are they graded ? Centralized ? 
Is there a high school? Academy? College? How far 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 137 

distant is the nearest high school? Academy? College? 
What vocational schools are there? What vocational 
training? 

How many teachers in each school? Are they normal grad- 
uates? college graduates? Do they participate in com- 
munity life? In church work? Do they visit the children 
in their homes? What salaries do they receive? 

How many scholars in each grade (total enrollment) ? How 
many children of school age in the community? How many 
in each class above the grade schools? What per cent of 
all beginners finish the eighth grade? What per cent of 
the eighth grade graduates finish high school? What per 
cent of the high school graduates attend college? What 
colleges? What courses do they take? 

What do the children do who do not finish the grades? Who 
do not finish high school? How large a delinquency? 
What measures are taken to prevent it and correct it? 

Are examinations regularly conducted for mental and physical 
defectives? Are there separate classes for these? 

Are the textbooks those that are recommended by the State 
Department of Education? 

How could the Gary (Indiana) plans be of benefit to your 
schools? 

Are vacation schools conducted? 

What courses are available in evening schools? By whom are 
these conducted? 

Is the light sufficient? (The New York State Department 
requires, for example, that the window space equal one 
fifth the floor space.) Ventilation? (The same Depart- 
ment requires 200 cubic feet of air per pupil.) Is the 
temperature uniformly about 68 degrees? 

Are there parents' associations? Do the parents visit the 
schools? What per cent of the men vote in school elec- 
tions? What per cent of the women? 

Is there a library — in the school? In the town? In the 
church? A circulating library? How many books in each? 
What range is covered by each? 



. 



138 THE WAY TO WIN 

Is there a Chautauqua? A lecture course of attractive value? 

Reading circle? 
What use is made of the Bible in the schools? 

Recreations 

How many boys are there of ages 6-9? 10-14? 15-17? 18-20? 
(See United States Census.) Girls of the same ages? 

Where do they congregate — on the street? parks? confec- 
tionery stores? lodges? barber shops? depots? 

How many poolrooms are there? Bowling alleys? Dance 
halls? Theaters? Movies? What is the average weekly 
attendance? Which are operated for profit? Which by 
the churches? By the schools? 

What opportunity is provided for baseball? Football? Basket- 
ball? Boating? Tennis? Swimming? Skating? What 
expense attached to each? 

In what recreations do the men between 20 and 30 years of 
age participate? Women between 20 and 30? 

Is there a Y. M. C. A.? Y. W. C. A.? Have they sufficient 
room and equipment for all young people and children? 
Are the rates low enough for the poor? 

Who conducts holiday celebrations? Field days? 

Is there a supervised playground? 

What boys' gangs are there? Their favorite pastime? Do 
adults accompany them? 

Moral 

Character of theaters? Moving-picture houses? Is the cen- 
sorship rigidly applied? Dance halls? Are girls under 
sixteen admitted unaccompanied? 

Are there saloons? How many? Is the Sunday-closing law 
enforced? Do they sell to minors? At what distance are 
they from schools? How many arrests for drunkenness 
the past year? Are the hotels licensed to sell liquor? 
What places sell liquor without license? How is the fight 
being made against saloons? 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 139 

What gambling places operate? Under what regulations? 
Are these obeyed ? 

What forms of social evil exist? Is prostitution licensed? Is 
there a segregated district? What fight is being made 
against the social evil? Are rooms in hotels let for short 
periods? On boats? Are the boat decks well lighted? 
Parks ? 

Into what undesirable places do messenger boys go at night? 

How many divorce cases in the past year? For what causes? 

What types of crime have been committed during the year? 
Number of each? Are the laws rigidly enforced? 

What forms of Sabbath desecration exist? 

What is being done by each church to improve these con- 
ditions? 

Every community survey should include a thorough study of 
the churches and their work Questions concerning this 
will be found on pages 153 to 155. They are given separately 
because some will make that study who cannot make a 
complete community survey. 

Delinquency and Correction 

What are the main causes of crime? What is being done to 
eliminate these? 

Are many offenders fined? What is the effect of the fines in 
preventing further lawbreaking? On the families of poor 
offenders? Have fines been successful in stopping drunken- 
ness? In leading prostitutes to a better life? Have many 
of those fined broken the law again? 

Do the city and county jails turn prisoners out better or 
worse than when they enter? What provision is made for 
prisoners' physical well-being? Mental training? Reli- 
gious education ? Is upbuilding work provided ? Are young 
offenders confined apart? Is the jail clean? Overcrowded? 
Is there a matron for female prisoners ? Do many offenders 
break the law again after one term in jail? 

Are prisoners sentenced to jails for fixed periods and turned 



i 4 o THE WAY TO WIN 

out when their terms are up whether they are reformed or 
not, or are they held on indeterminate sentences until real 
reform in their characters has been made? 

Is a probation officer provided for children? For adults? 
Does the probation officer merely receive reports from those 
on probation, or does he endeavor through visits to homes, 
schools, workplaces, and churches, to lead offenders to a 
better life? 

Are child offenders dealt with entirely apart from adult 
offenders? Are they held in a detention home? Is there 
a juvenile court? Are stories of juvenile offenses published 
in the papers? 

What are the churches doing to make the city and county 
jails agencies for reforming lawbreakers? To secure in- 
determinate sentences, so as to permit the jails to do 
effective work in this direction? To help released prisoners 
become law-abiding citizens? To secure abolition of the 
use of fines where they can work no real reform in the char- 
acter of offenders? To provide probation for both children 
and adults? To secure the protection of child offenders 
from publicity and contact with adult offenders? 

Labor 

Is this an agricultural community or a factory community? 
How many men work eight hours a day? Ten hours? 

Twelve hours? Fourteen hours? 
How many men work at night? How many work seven 

days? 
What wages do the men receive in each occupation? What 

is the minimum cost of living per family? How many 

receive that much? 
How many women are engaged in gainful occupations? 

What occupations? How many hours do they work in 

each? Rate of wage in each? What is the minimum cost 

of living for a single woman? How many receive that 

much? 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 141 

How many children are employed? At what occupations? 

What hours? Rate of wage? 
Is machinery fitted with safety appliances? With dust 

removers? Are working places well lighted? Heated? 

Ventilated ? 
How many working men are graduates of recognized schools 

of agriculture? Of technology? 
How many employees are periodically unemployed? What 

provision is made to meet this situation? Are the laborers 

organized? What organizations? What have the organiza- 
tions accomplished? By what means? 
How far do the laborers go to their employment? What 

bearing does this have? 
What provision is made by employers or groups of employers 

for welfare of their workers? 
Are the employees protected with insurance? What kind? 

How much? What is the State provision for workmen's 

compensation? 
Are young men leaving the farm in large numbers? Are 

many people moving "back to the land" ? 

Immigrants 

Nationalities? Number of each nationality foreign born? 
Number of each nationality born of foreign parents? 

What per cent of each group speak English? What per cent 
are naturalized? Is there a night school open to them? 
Trade school? 

Are their children in school? To what grades do they go? 
How many in high school? 

What occupations do the immigrants pursue? Wages by 
nationalities? How do they spend their wages? How do 
they save them? 

What are their living conditions? (See following division 
on Housing.) What training do the girls get in house- 
keeping? What changes have occurred in their standard 
of living since arrival? 



142 THE WAY TO WIN 

Do they expect to remain in this country? Are they wel- 
comed socially among the Americans? 

Are they related to any church? Do they attend? What do 
the churches do for their benefit? What is the point of 
contact ? 

What opportunity do they have to participate in civic life? 

The other questions in this chapter apply to immigrants as 
well as to other people. 



Housing 

What per cent of the families own their homes? What per 

cent rent? 
Value of the average cottage? Describe it. Value of the 

better cottages? Rent of each? Rent of flats? (Keep in 

mind the number of rooms.) Is rent paid by week or 

month ? 
What per cent of the families live in flats? Usual number 

of rooms? Customary number of families per tenement? 

Does the city keep a record of the number of each style 

of house in each section of the city? 
Is the light sufficient in each room? Ventilation? Are the 

heating facilities sufficient? What kind of heat? Is it safe? 

What kind of fire escape? 
Is the plumbing good in connection with sinks? Baths? 

Tubs? Toilets? Is there a toilet for each family? If 

yard vaults are used, what provision for sanitation? 
Are the walls papered? Frescoed? Calcimined? Plastered 

with hard finish? 
Are the kitchens conveniently planned to save labor? What 

disposal of garbage? 
Is there a cellar? Is it dry or damp? Is refuse allowed to 

accumulate? If there is an attic, what use is made of it? 
Are the out-buildings in good condition? Walks? Lawns? 
What local agencies (official or volunteer) deal with housing 

conditions ? 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 143 

Complete questions under this head may be found in Law- 
rence Veiller's, Housing Reform. 

Health 

Is there a Board of Health? Is it active? Allowance per 

capita ? 
What is the birth rate? Death rate? 
Is the water supply sufficient? Source? Is it filtered? Tested 

regularly ? 
What disposal is made of sewage? Frequency? Does this 

reach the whole area? 
Are animals allowed to be kept within the corporation? 
Are there swamps near? Are these treated to kill mosquitos? 
What is the source of milk supply? Is it regularly inspected? 

Is it aerated? Is it pasteurized? 
What per cent of the meat is refrigerated? Eggs? 
Is there a hospital? Dispensary? What provision is made 

for convalescents? 
Are physicians capable? Are there specialists? 
What preparations are made for the control of epidemics? 
Is vaccination compulsory? 
What precautions are taken against venereal diseases? What 

sex education is done? By whom? 
What employments lower vitality and so invite disease? 
What fresh-air work is done? By whom? 

Charities 

What organizations assist the needy? 

What assistance do the churches give? The public officials? 

The fraternal orders? Other agencies? 
Number of different dependent families cared for by each 

during a given month? 
Number cared for by all, duplicates eliminated? 
What disabilities or handicaps appear in these families — 

Accident? Sickness? Blindness? Liquor? Indolence? 



144 THE WAY TO WIN 

Desertion? Scarcity of employment? Insufficient rate of 

wage? Old age? 
Are the organizations associated to insure the best service 

to those in need? Is every case carefully investigated? 

Fully and permanently recorded? Does investigation aim 

merely to prevent fraud? Does it attempt to find out the 

cause of the family's poverty and get the cooperation of 

relatives and employers in removing that cause? 
Are children taken away from their parents because of 

poverty, when their parents are otherwise fit persons to 

care for them? 
Are children taken away from parents who prove unfit to 

care for them? 
Are street beggars licensed? What provision is made for the 

homeless? Is there a municipal lodging house? In what 

condition? 
Is there an employment bureau? Under whose control? Is 

the fee prohibitive? 
Can men be compelled by law to work to support their 

families ? 
Is the poorhouse a suitable place for the needy poor? 

B. HOW TO CONDUCT A COMMUNITY SURVEY 

Purpose 

Here again the first thing is the purpose. A survey should 
never be made merely for its own sake. A survey is justified 
only by its results. In 1885 the city council of Springfield, 
Illinois, appropriated $1,000 for a sanitary survey. This was 
made and the report was preserved in several large volumes. 
In 1910 another sanitary survey was made, and in the course 
of the research work those old volumes were discovered. No 
one connected with the 1910 survey or with the department of 
health knew about the former work or remembered it. The 
former survey had produced no results. 

The results may be very different from the purpose; but no 
survey should be undertaken unless with a purpose to do a 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 145 

specific piece of work or to do whatever work may be neces- 
sary as revealed by the survey. 

Subjects Covered 

Decide what subjects shall be covered. It may be impossible 
to make the complete survey at once. It is often better to 
study only one phase of the community life at a time and do 
it well. If the findings are presented and the proposals made 
concerning one subject, the people will more probably be 
interested, and do what is proposed, than they will if findings 
and proposals are presented concerning a dozen subjects. 

Territory Covered 

Decide what territory shall be covered in the study. It is 
often well to cover a small section of a community thoroughly 
and direct attention specifically to that quarter. This will have 
the effect of waking the people to the needs, first of that 
section, but also later of the entire community. 

Who Shall Do the Work? 

Read the suggestions headed, "How to make the home 
survey/' In making a community survey the public-spirited 
men or organizations should be enlisted. In a rural com- 
munity perhaps the Grange would be willing to cooperate. In 
a larger place the Civic Club or the Board of Trade, or even 
the City Council, may be induced to take up the work. If 
this can be done, the survey will be made and the church will 
have enlisted many helpers in a good work. Get the Board 
of Health to assist in the health study, the Board of Educa- 
tion to help with the educational study, and the labor organ- 
ization to cooperate in the industrial investigation. In this 
way specialists will help make the investigation and the 
proposals they offer will represent the best thought of experts 
in each line. A survey at Syracuse has been made under the 
direction of Mr. Shelby M. Harrison of the Russell Sage 
Foundation, with the cooperation of the Chamber of Com- 



146 THE WAY TO WIN 

merce, the Associated Charities, the Labor Federation, and the 
Ministers' Union. 

Make it Their Survey 

When the helpers are secured make it their survey rather 
than yours. Make them feel that they are doing it, not you. 
Consider with them the purpose of the survey, the subjects 
to be treated, the territory to be covered, and the thorough- 
ness of the work. If they are particularly zealous to follow 
out a line of study or a method of work, which is not just 
what you had in mind, it will usually be better to help them 
along their line rather than force them into another. One 
can manipulate the matter without appearing to drive the men. 

Get Expert Advice 

If your territory is rural, connect with the State Agri- 
cultural College. The agricultural colleges in several States 
have done extensive survey work, and they may have done 
it in your own community. In city territory get the help of 
some organization that has had experience in this kind of 
work. The surveys made in Pittsburgh, Newburgh, Topeka, 
and Springfield by the Russell Sage Foundation are the best 
examples of complete community surveys. 

Instruct the Assistants 

When the work is apportioned to the assistants instruct them 
what to look for in each case, and where to look for it. The 
preceding paragraphs give an idea what information should 
be sought, and this may be supplemented by the use of such 
leaflets as, What Every Church Should Know About Its Com- 
munity, or A Study of the Church in the Community (both 
available at the Federal Council of Churches, 105 East 22nd 
Street, New York city) ; Community Study for Cities, by War- 
ren H. Wilson, or Community Study for Country Districts, by 
Anna B. Taft (obtainable from the Missionary Education 
Movement, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York city) ; or What Social 
Workers Should Know About Their Community, by Margaret 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 147 

F. Byington (published by the Russell Sage Foundation, 130 
East 226. Street, New York city). The information desired 
may be gathered from personal investigations, from various 
local organizations and societies, from the census, from re- 
ports of the departments of the local government, and from 
books of statistics. No blanks are prepared because com- 
munities need different questions, and no uniform spacing 
would be right. 

Be sure to have specific questions for each committee to 
answer, and instruct them to give specific answers, mention- 
ing the authority for every statement that is made. Have 
each committee carefully study the laws pertaining to the 
subject treated. Request them to send in a written, preferably 
typewritten, report, at a certain date. An executive com- 
mittee will go over the reports, pick out the conflicting para- 
graphs, and make suggestions as to other subjects of investi- 
gation and sources of material. 

The Executive Committee 

This committee should include a representative from each 
body assisting or a representative for each topic studied. 
Where there are only a few workers they may not need an 
executive committee. 

Presenting the Reports 

The reports should be considered by the Executive Com- 
mittee before being presented publicly. Certain reports should 
be shown by the Executive Committee to the Board of 
Health, or to the Board of Education, or to the Police Depart- 
ment, for confirmation or denial, before being made public. 
If these organizations are willing to act in the matters that 
come under their supervision, a public exposition of un- 
toward conditions may not be necessary. If they refuse, do 
not whitewash their cowardice or inefficiency. Publish the 
facts. But offer to cooperate with them first. Some findings 
should be presented first to associations like the Society for 
the Prevention of Crime, the Society for the Prevention of 



; 



148 THE WAY TO WIN 

Cruelty to Animals, or The Anti-Saloon League, where there 
are such. Some material will be best presented in the sermons 
of the pastors. 

Most of the information, however, should be made public. 
When the effort has been extensive, the report should be 
printed. If printing is not possible or necessary, an open 
meeting should be held in a place large enough to accom- 
modate all who would come. If it is held in a schoolhouse 
or town hall, many will come who would not come to a 
church. It should be thoroughly advertised by the most 
effective publicity methods. Music should be provided and 
a speaker or two of recognized ability. Have the speakers 
coached to talk briefly, and ring a buzzer on them to prevent 
their exceeding the time limit. 

Have the striking information revealed by the survey 
printed in large characters on placards hung about the room. 
These placards need not be works of art. They should be 
recognized as made for this occasion and conveying fresh 
information that cannot be found anywhere else. Perhaps 
it will be possible to present the information in lantern slide 
form, throwing the facts on a large screen, so that the wording 
can be seen from all parts of the room. This was done in 
the Methodist conventions at Boston and Columbus with 
splendid effect. Photographs can be used to advantage on the 
slides. If the occasion and the information justifies it, the 
slides may be used in a machine carried on the rear seat of 
an automobile, and can be shown on a screen thrown over the 
wind-shield. Then the message can be given on every street 
corner of the town to reach the people that cannot be gathered 
in the meeting. Lanterns are available for daylight use. 

However the material is presented, it will be more effective 
if accompanied with one or more maps of the district con- 
sidered. The first map should locate the territory treated, 
showing railways, roads, rivers, the nature of the surround- 
ing territory, whether rural, factory, etc. One map might 
show the number and location of churches, schools, libraries, 
saloons, dance halls, theaters, picture shows, and pool rooms. 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 149 

These may be indicated by tacks or stickers of small size, 
different colors meaning separate things. Another map could 
indicate the prevalence of any contagious or infectious 
diseases. Another, the overchurched condition of a rural 
county or the lack of Protestant work in the downtown 
section of a city. 

Interpret the Figures 

Before the figures obtained in the survey are presented, it 
is usually necessary to interpret them. The thing sought is 
not statistics per se, but conditions of human interest. The 
fact that there are 500 children in school means nothing unless 
that figure is compared with the number of children of school 
age. The statement that 93^2 per cent of the children enrolled 
in the schools of Washington Heights, New York city, attend 
school, meant more when it was shown that the average attend- 
ance in New York city is 75 per cent ; in Philadelphia, 6934 per 
cent; in Baltimore, 66 per cent. A death rate of 9.77 per 
1,000 in Washington Heights is not particularly informing 
unless it is known that the death rate in the city of New 
York is 13.40 per 1,000. Death rates in different places should 
not be compared unless the difference in rates is explained. 
Is it due to one place having a hospital, a retired population, 
accidents in factories, foreign-born population, or faulty sani- 
tation? The number of children attending Sunday school 
and church will be more significant when it is compared with 
the weekly attendance at the theaters and movies. 

The Program of Work 

The church's program of work should be based upon the 
survey. Livingstone's words are peculiarly applicable here — 
"The end of the exploration is the beginning of the enter- 
prise." The other chapters of this book offer programs of 
work in the several departments. In Warren H. Wilson's 
book, The Church at the Center, will be found a suggested 
program of work covering all departments. No church can 






150 THE WAY TO WIN 

accept and work another's program, however, but must make 
its own on the basis of the findings of its survey. 

The program should outline not only the immediate work, 
but the work for three years or more in advance. In doing 
this allow for a change of figures. In some communities 5 
per cent of the Protestant population may be replaced each 
year with non-Protestant newcomers. In cities the foreign 
quarters move gradually, Poles, perhaps, following Lithuan- 
ians. Things like this may modify the program. 

Work the Program 

A survey such as we have described does not relieve the 
church of personal application to its work. A survey of New- 
burgh, New York, disclosed that 10 per cent of the population 
where the housing survey was made were boarders. Now, a 
church learning that, could establish attractive parlors for 
those boarders, but these would be of little use unless the indi- 
vidual boarders were personally sought out and invited to 
the parlors. 

Legislative action or court procedure may be necessary in 
accomplishing what the survey demands. Discriminate care- 
fully whether the need is educative, legislative, or executive, 
then go ahead; do not let the survey fail of results. Helpful 
suggestions for securing legislative action will be found in 
Chapter XII in Lawrence Veiller's book on Housing Reforms. 

The Average Church 

If the foregoing looks formidable, it is because of a desire 
to cover the subject thoroughly. The average church may not 
care to attempt the effort in this complete form. If so, it 
should read again the first few paragraphs under the heading, 
How to Conduct a Community Survey. It will be well to 
make everything as simple as it can be made without losing 
the results. 

The fact is, however, that the average church can do more 
than it thinks. There are more workers available in most 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 151 

communities than have been discovered or put in harness. 
The main thing that our churches need is more of the victory 
spirit. Many of them are beginning to learn what Paul 
meant when he said, "I can do all things through Christ 
which strengtheneth me." This chapter is not written as a 
schedule of perfection toward which local churches should 
strive : it is, rather, an effort to help other churches do what 
some local churches have already done. It will need to be 
adapted to the field of operation, to the purpose in mind, 
and to the workers who are used. 

The small church is in mind as well as the large one, the 
declining church as well as the growing one, the rural as well 
as the urban. Special suggestions have been made for the 
various sizes and types of churches and communities, but a 
few words further concerning rural churches and those in 
villages may not be out of place. 

The Rural Survey 

The matters to be investigated in a rural community are 
commonly fewer in number than the questions listed under 
each heading above. Most of the questions, however, should 
be answered. For instance, most of the questions under the 
industrial study pertain to farm laborers as well as to factory 
laborers. Recreations should receive as much attention on the 
farm as in the city. If the young people in a rural community 
cannot be preached off of the baseball diamond on Sunday, 
it is commonly because they have no recreation during the 
week, and the problem may be solved by securing a Saturday 
half-holiday. 

It will make the task easier for rural churches if only one 
topic is handled at a time. 

Before beginning, see what has been done by the agricultural 
colleges or other organizations. Get their reports and utilize 
their findings. If they have not covered your community, it 
may be possible for you to enlist their help. A number of 
State schools have done extensive work of a very thorough 
and very dependable character. 



152 THE WAY TO WIN 

Keep to the things that pertain to farm life. Learn whether 
the farmers attend the agricultural fairs and agricultural 
schools, read farm papers, and are generally intelligent con- 
cerning their own work. Experts from the agricultural 
schools may be secured to enlighten the people concerning 
crops and soil. It will not be difficult to secure their assist- 
ance. Several of these schools are offering short courses for 
rural pastors. If it is impossible to take advantage of one of 
these courses, write to the Agricultural College at Manhattan, 
Kansas, and take its correspondence course. This school offers 
three courses by correspondence at a nominal price. Farm 
work will not replace church work, nor cultivation displace 
salvation; but every rural pastor must invest himself in the 
life and condition of his people. 

Attention should be paid to the stock on the farms. Many 
farms are running down because little stock is kept. Clair S. 
Adams, speaking concerning one of the States in the corn belt, 
says that although the price of land is advancing the farms 
are decreasing in fertility, because the owners and renters are 
neglecting the stock industry. He says, "One can travel in 
the cars for miles and find that the only stock on the farms 
is an occasional Durham bull on a tobacco sign." 

It is easy to make maps of a rural charge. These maps 
can include all the roads, the telephone lines, the rural 
delivery routes, the location of every farm and home by 
name, the waste land, and many other items that may appear 
desirable. Township maps can be secured in almost any 
place, giving the routes, the lay-out of the farms, and the 
owners' names. 

Community Study for Country Districts, by Anna B. Taft, 
is helpful in rural surveys. Another good leaflet is Social 
Survey for Rural Communities (to be obtained from the 
Federal Council of Churches). A book of bound record 
blanks has been arranged, with instructions, called Study of a 
Rural Parish, by Ralph A. Felken (printed by the Missionary 
Education Movement). The blanks are arranged to record 
the facts by families and by farms. This information can 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 153 

be secured by personal investigation. It is a combination of 
the home and community surveys. 

III. The Church Survey 

This study might be included as a division of the com- 
munity survey. Related material is usually considered under 
the head of religious work in community studies, and the 
latter is incomplete without it. It is separated here because 
a church will often wish to know its own condition, although 
it may not be in a position to make a community survey. It 
must be remembered that the church is a part of the com- 
munity : too long has it been apart from the community. 

Much of the information is to be found in the records of 
the church. Definite knowledge concerning the success or 
failure of a society can be deduced from such a study. The 
following suggestions will be helpful in this effort : 

How many members has your church? 

Compare the membership with the attendance, with the number 
of probationers, the Sunday school membership and at- 
tendance, the Epworth League membership and attendance, 
the prayer meeting attendance. 

Get the figures year by year for the past five or ten years. 
This may be difficult or impossible to secure. If so, here is 
an evidence of past inefficiency. Make permanent records 
now, so that the workers five years hence may answer this 
question. 

What explains the increase or decrease in these five-year or 
ten-year figures? 

What evangelistic methods have been employed? Revival? 
Professional evangelist? Decision Day? Constituency roll? 
Organized personal work? The personal work may well 
take the form of an organized canvass, based on the con- 
stituency roll. 

How many pastoral calls does the pastor make per week? 
How many calls are made by members under his direction? 
Is there an assistant pastor? Deaconess? 



154 THE WAY TO WIN 

What salary does the pastor receive? House rent? How 
much clerical work does he do? Would it not be wiser to 
hire a clerk to do this, and release his energies for other 
work? 

How many special workers has your church produced in 
ten years — Ministers? Missionaries? Deaconesses? Y. M. 
C. A. or Y. W. C. A. workers? Special uplift workers? 
Four hundred and thirty-nine Ohio churches reported 927 
special workers in ten years, or an average of one fifth of 
a worker per church per year. This is not saying how 
many churches did not report. 

How many Methodist papers are taken (not including Sunday 
school papers) ? What per cent of your families take 
Sunday newspapers? 

Does the Sunday school measure up to the standard proposed 
by the Board of Sunday Schools? What effort do you 
make to retain the young people in the Sunday school after 
the intermediate grade? 

What work has the church done in the line of community 
service? (See Chapter III, and The Community Survey in 
this chapter.) 

How many rooms has the church building? Is it in good 
repair? Is it well located? How many days a week is it 
open? For what purpose? How many nights? Purpose? 
Is there a parish house or community house? 

What missionary work is the church doing — Does it main- 
tain a station on the foreign field? A native pastor? A 
native student? Does it conduct mission study classes? 
Does it follow the standard plans? (These may be ob- 
tained from the Department of Missionary Education.) 

What is the financial condition of the church? Amount of 
debt? How long has the debt been standing? Do you use 
the New Financial Plan? (See Chapter VIII.) Is any help 
received from the Board of Home Missions and Church 
Extension? Is there an endowment? How much? How is 
income used? 

Annual expenditure — for ministerial support? Current ex- 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 155 

penses? Benevolence? How many contributors to each of 
these three items? 

Compare these expenditures with the average for the district, 
for the Conference, and for Methodism as a whole. (These 
figures may be obtained from the Year Book and the 
General Minutes.) 

Are there other churches in the community? How many 
of each denomination? Membership of each? Attendance? 
Sunday school membership and attendance ? Young people's 
societies, membership and attendance? Prayer meeting 
attendance? Budget figures? 

Total Protestant membership of the community? Catholic 
membership? Total population? 

How does the church cooperate with other churches in the 
community? With the W. C. T. U.? With the Anti- 
Saloon League? With the schools? Associated charities? 
Grange? With other organizations? 



Which of these surveys should be made depends upon the 
purpose. If the purpose is not sufficiently specific, yet some 
survey is desired, begin with the home or the church survey. 
If a minister makes it alone, the home survey will fit in well 
with his calling. It will also reveal certain community needs. 
If information is sought concerning the members of the 
church, the home survey would be the method of obtaining it. 
If any evangelistic or financial canvass is anticipated after a 
time, the home survey will be a good preparation for this. 

If the pastor has recently come to the charge, it may be well 
for him, by means of the church survey, to get acquainted 
with his force, before he attempts to put that force to work 
in the community. If the members of the church have no 
special interest in the church work, a church survey showing 
the failure or success of the church during the past five or 
ten years may wake them up to increased usefulness. 

It is seldom necessary to stop short of the complete com- 
munity survey. If the church is self -centered, it needs a com- 



156 THE WAY TO WIN 

munity survey to make it Christian. If helpers are available, 
and especially where there is a Grange or a Civic Club, the 
community survey would be the logical thing. 

In general, if some one is at hand who has had experience 
in survey work, use him and give him a large measure of 
liberty as to the kind of survey and the method of making it. 
If there is a person who talks the language of the immigrants 
in your community, get him to make a survey of the immi- 
grant situation. It is often well to follow the line of least 
resistance in beginning; but if this is done, make certain that 
the work continues far enough to be of actual value. 

IV. Special Surveys 

Not many men can be persuaded to-day by exhortation, un- 
less that exhortation is well ballasted with facts. If one wants 
fence posts he does not buy a particular kind on the exhorta- 
tion of the dealer, but makes a comparison of the cost and 
durability of cedar posts, posts treated with chemicals, wood 
posts set in concrete, concrete posts, and metal posts. To 
convince men one should be willing to present the facts in 
the case. The man who makes this effort, all other things 
being equal, is the man who is going to accomplish the most. 

Surveys By Mail 

Never make a survey by mail if it can be done in person. If 
people cannot be reached otherwise, a list of questions may be 
made out and sent by mail. Care must be taken to word these 
questions so as to avoid misinterpretation. It is also necessary 
to select the list of questions very carefully. People will sel- 
dom take the trouble to answer more than fifty questions, even 
when one is trying to make a community survey. Select also 
the list of people to whom the questionnaire is to be sent. If 
it is a questionnaire on Sunday school work, it will not be of 
great value to send it to people who are not attending Sunday 
school. One of the main difficulties is to secure the answers. 
It is seldom that one can get returns from as many as two 
thirds of the people to whom he sends the questionnaire. The 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 157 

best method is to send the blanks far in advance and send 
repeated requests to the correspondents. If one wishes to 
send questionnaires to all the churches on a district, it 
would be well to enlist the assistance of the district superin- 
tendent, asking him to get the blank rilled as he visits the 
Quarterly Conferences. When the answers are returned many 
of them will need to be interpreted. Some answers will prob- 
ably contradict other answers on the same sheet. 

Saloon Survey 

If it is desired to get rid of the saloons in the community, 
show the community what the saloons are actually doing. 
Tabulate the expenses for rent, interest, help, fines, and other 
expenses. Add 10 per cent for profit, for no man would run 
a saloon for less than 10 per cent profit. Add to this his cost 
of living, which is usually more than the average family 
spends. Calculate, on the basis of the number of saloons, your 
community's share of the county expenses for asylum, poor 
farm, jail, and court, three fourths of which expense is, by 
fair estimate, due to drink. Find also the normal salary value 
of the men and women who are rendered unemployable, or 
who are only making a fraction of what they could earn, 
because of drink. Determine as closely as possible all reduc- 
tion of property values due to the presence of the saloons 
in the neighborhood. Ask the business men the amount of the 
unpaid bills on their books which are there because the cus- 
tomer's cash goes across the bar. When you find the grand 
total compare it with the amount of revenue that the liquor 
business pays. It may be that the saloon is receiving twenty 
dollars for every dollar it gives back. 

A promising young man, with an expanding business, said 
that the saloons were necessary in his town to attract cus- 
tomers. Another man, in business, made an analysis of his 
ledger and found that, of the bills receivable which were not 
likely ever to be paid and could not be counted as assets, 
8 per cent were owed by total abstainers, 16 per cent by 
moderate drinkers, and 76 per cent by heavy drinkers. This 



158 THE WAY TO WIN 

in spite of the fact that he rarely trusted heavy drinkers, 
and of the total amount receivable, 25 per cent were owed 
by total abstainers, 36 per cent by moderate drinkers, and 39 
per cent by heavy drinkers. The argument was sufficient, and 
both business men have voted against the saloon at every 
opportunity since. 

Sheds 

If you want sheds to protect the teams and autos when 
people drive to church, the way to get them is to have some 
one count the number of people who drive to church. When 
a promoter is seeking a location for a five-and-ten-cent store 
he has men watch the prospective locations that are suitable, 
for a day or several days, and learn how many people pass 
each of those sites every day. The same effort will be easy 
for the church to make. When it is shown that thirty families 
drive to church every Sunday it will be seen that there ought 
to be accommodations for thirty teams or autos. It is a com- 
mendable thing if the sheds can be built large enough to 
accommodate the teams or autos that come to town on week 
days. Perhaps the churches could make this effort unitedly. 
The total number of teams coming by different roads could 
be counted by having several people, each watching one of the 
roads. Perhaps the united effort of the churches would be 
sufficient to persuade the village to build sheds from the public 
funds. 

Children's Recreation 

A church recently offered this problem : the Young Men's 
Christian Association does nothing in our city for children 
under twelve years of age; what should our church do for 
them? It was suggested that the church do nothing until the 
several churches could consider the proposition unitedly. It 
was further suggested that the churches get from the school 
census the number of children in that place under twelve years 
of age, find the number of them in the churches, the number 
in the Sunday schools, the number who are running in doubt- 



HOW TO MAKE A SURVEY 159 

ful gangs, what recreations they pursue, and where they spend 
most of their time out of school. It was suggested that after 
a representative committee was armed with such facts it 
should then approach the Association and learn why it is doing 
nothing for children under twelve years of age. Is it for lack 
of room, for lack of assistants to handle all the children, or 
for lack of money to pay such assistants? The cause dis- 
covered, then the churches could unitedly offer to furnish a 
room which might serve as an annex to the Association build- 
ing, or an assistant to take charge of the children, or the 
money to pay his salary. 



VII 
CHURCH ADVERTISING 



I. Personal Methods 
Organized Canvass 
Telephone 
Letters 
Parades 

II. Special Meetings 

Come-to-Church Sunday- 
Surprise Prayer Meeting 
Special Sermons 

III. Ink and Paint 

Newspapers 
Printed Matter 
Bulletin Board 
Painted Signs 

IV. The Buildings 

Condition of the Plant 
A Fountain in Sunday School 
Get People on Your Street 
Public Use of Buildings 

V. General Suggestions 
Publicity Week 
Cooperative Advertising 
Publicity Training 
Expense 

Spirit of Advertising 
More than Advertising 
Committee on Publicity 



VII 

CHURCH ADVERTISING 

A young minister had settled down to a small charge satis- 
fied to take things as they came. He excused small audiences 
by reminding himself that his neighbor had no better. He 
was ingrained with fear against an indefinable "sensational- 
ism." But one day he awoke. One or two other pastors had 
secured larger audiences. He had just been appointed to a 
new church. He decided to put as much effort into getting an 
audience as the business man puts into securing customers. 
He secured a few unusual attractions for Sunday night. He 
phrased his sermon subjects to connect with the thinking of 
the man on the street ; then he advertised. He put out unique 
cards. He secured space in the local paper. He utilized the 
mails. He commanded attention to the church. As a result 
he filled all empty seats and took scores into the membership. 
He dominated things in that town of a thousand. Of course 
larger churches wanted him. He moved. When he awoke 
he had been speaking to sixteen people on Sunday night ; now 
he found himself addressing hundreds. A still larger church 
wanted him, but he had the good judgment to remain. 

Who exempts anyone from the command of Jesus, "Compel 
them to come in"? It is as urgent as His "Go ye into all the 
world." Ever so orthodox a gospel may be preached, and yet 
if a hearing is not obtained from those entering the hedgeway 
doors of amusement and business, some one is disobedient. 

A double-page advertisement of chewing gum in the Satur- 
day Evening Post cost $11,000. This took the profit on 2,200,- 
000 sticks of gum. One million people must chew gum a 
whole day to pay for this one "ad." It is reported that 
"Wrigley" spends $1,000,000 a year for publicity. The Encyclo- 

163 



J64 THE WAY TO WIN 

paedia Britannica spent $75,000 for advertising during the last 
thirty days of 1913, and in twelve days the sales jumped from 
23,000 sets to 32,000. 

A missionary in Japan advertised in the local papers that 
any one might apply to him for information about Chris- 
tianity. Scores responded. The plan was then extensively 
copied in China. Samuel Zwemer employed the same method 
in Cairo. It is commanded, "Let your light shine." Who is 
doing that while he neglects the countless opportunities for 
church publicity now open to workers in the Kingdom? 

I. Personal Methods 

Organized Personal Canvass 

The same method that is advised in connection with the 
constituency visitation plan of personal evangelism and finance 
is invaluable in advertising. If there is a proposition worth 
while, get the men to go out two by two through the entire 
community, and the community will be captured as by no other 
method. Perhaps the young people of the church will gladly 
employ their enthusiasm in this way. 

Brotherhoods find a fruitful field of activity in inviting 
liotel guests on Saturday to attend the church service and 
men's class the next day. If a class card is used, it may 
request the visitor to "Ask for Mr. Blank" (whoever gives the 
card) : then he will feel more welcome. Or the class mem- 
bers might call again Sunday morning, one at each hotel, and 
bring in person all who care to attend. 

The Telephone 

Most of the people have telephones. Use the wires for 
advertising. Arrange for the pastor to call five individuals 
to give a specific announcement. Have it understood that each 
of them is to call five other families (specified beforehand) ; 
and these are to call others in turn until all are reached. By 
this means the whole constituency can be notified of an event 
in an hour's time. In rural territory one person can notify all 



CHURCH ADVERTISING 165 

the families on a given telephone line. Sometimes a quarter 
will enable an operator to open all her lines and tell the mes- 
sage to all 'phone holders at once. Where a family has no 
'phone, a neighbor can notify them. 

Letters 

By a similar division of work letters may be handwritten 
or dictated, certain persons being responsible for seeing that 
the letters go to specified people. Sometimes the Sunday 
school teachers have their classes write the letters, each 
scholar being requested to write only three or four letters. 
Make letters as personal as possible. Have not only a regular 
mailing list, but special lists containing the names of persons 
who are interested in special subjects. If, for instance, the 
pastor desires to speak to one of the fraternities, it might pay 
to write every member of that fraternity. 

Parades 

The Salvation Army has no patent on parades. Recently 
the men in Grace Church, New York city, during a revival 
campaign, had a parade preceding the evening meeting. A 
small brass band was secured. It rained all day, yet that 
night over one hundred and fifty men appeared and walked 
along Broadway and nearby streets for nearly two miles, 
carrying banners and singing religious songs. Scores fol- 
lowed to the night meeting and the altar was filled with men 
seeking Christ. The whole neighborhood was impressed. The 
men were delighted and plan to repeat it on a larger scale* 

II. Special Meetings 

Come-to-Charch Sunday 

Newburgh, New York, recently secured the cooperation of 
the whole town in a Come-to-Church campaign. The Roman 
Catholic Church cooperated with a representative on the 
general committee and gave money. Everyone helped. News- 



166 THE WAY TO WIN 

paper space was purchased. A count was kept and an effort 
made to get the whole town to attend at least one service. An 
Ohio mayor issued a proclamation setting apart a certain day 
and urging every resident to attend some church that day. 

This has succeeded well for a special's men's service — 
women, of course, being welcome. Have a dozen respected 
men stand in meeting and tell, briefly, Why Men Go to 
Church. This is better than reading letters on Why Men Do 
Not Attend Church, written by people who stay at home. 

Surprise Prayer Meeting 

One pastor worked a unique publicity plan that required 
tact. He suggested to one of his members that a pastor friend 
of his had enjoyed a "surprise." That pastor had grown dis- 
couraged over the prayer meeting. A few officials decided to 
cheer him and they sent word to every member to plan to 
attend on a designated Wednesday night. The depressed 
pastor went into the room to find it full. The member saw 
the point in the pastor's story, and worked the surprise for 
that church. Every member heard of it. The prayer meeting 
was never finer, because the attendance was large, and all 
were there with a good spirit. That pastor saw to it that the 
next meeting was good, and as a result people continued to 
come. Every publicity method must be backed up. The adver- 
tised goods must be delivered in religion as in business. 

Special Sermons 

Appropriate sermons with attractive topics are advised. The 
following titles are suggested by Theresa H. Wolcott, in Five 
Hundred "Ways to Help your Church: Cooling Thoughts for 
Summer Days ; A Drink from Life's Fountain ; A Moun- 
taintop Visit; The Shadow of a Rock; Green Pastures and 
Still Waters ; The Best kind of Fishing. Cards or folders 
announcing these should bear a half-tone picture of a foun- 
tain, a snow-capped mountain, or a water scene. 

Public holidays should be recognized with fitting ceremonies 
and addresses. 



CHURCH ADVERTISING 167 

III. Ink and Paint 
Newspapers 

Newspaper publicity is important enough to command a 
many-paged book. No more valuable assistant to the church 
can be found than is offered in the newspaper — it is ready to 
help now as never. The following hints are for the man who 
is now convinced and is seeking to utilize this agency. 

Timidity and false humility must be buried with selfish- 
ness. They may hinder as much. Sometimes they are cloaks 
like those worn by the Pharisees. If genuine, they must be 
sacrificed for the sake of the Kingdom. Paul published his 
coming and was talked about everywhere for the sake of 
getting a hearing for the gospel. Luther startled the world 
with a billboard full of theses. Wesley was the most dis- 
cussed man of his day. Booth coveted widest newspaper 
notoriety. Jesus sent out the seventy by twos to tell of his 
coming. He was so fully known that he could not secure 
seclusion. Seek personal publicity wherever possible if it 
can aid in securing a hearing for the gospel. That may be 
your cross. The white light of notoriety may compel men to 
walk carefully and be so saturated with holy power that others 
seeing them will learn that they have been with Jesus. 

Some newspapers are not so good and clean as is possible. 
But they are getting better. Over one hundred dailies now 
refuse liquor advertisements — some among the largest. Noth- 
ing is gained by abuse. Cooperation works better. They can 
usually be trusted. A certain pastor during eighteen years 
has always been frank and free with reporters and then has 
requested that certain matters be not printed. Not once has 
he been disappointed. 

Treat reporters well; they are human. Send the city editor 
tickets for coming entertainments and suppers. Provide seats 
and tables where addresses are delivered. No key unlocks the 
paper-writer's heart like kindness. They are the ablest sort 
of friends, and energetic church work appeals to the best in 
them. 



168 THE WAY TO WIN 

Several pastors have found the local editor willing to turn 
the paper over to them for one issue. Others regularly write 
a column. Others prepare a leading editorial; sometimes it is 
signed. 

Every newspaper welcomes the cooperation of the minister. 
But he must not offer merely "pink tea" notes. 

City pastors can prepare a news letter which can be mani- 
folded and sent to every editor. 

Few realize how much the public is interested in the work 
of the church. Cities have neighborhood papers glad to get 
church notes. Such news will be greatly appreciated in smaller 
cities and towns and even in country editorial sanctums. A 
layman in Chicago prepares a column of church news for 
The Herald every Monday morning. A physician in the 
West always makes notes of the sermon and writes it up 
for the local paper. It will be good mental drill for the minis- 
ter to make an eight-hundred-word abstract of a sermon be- 
fore preaching it. A copy sent the local papers will be sure 
to receive attention. Many ministers constantly have sermons 
in the papers because they do this. Monday is dull and space 
is freer — editors will give space to the speaker who brings a 
copy of his manuscript for use that day. Before or after the 
sermon or address gladly accept interviews, and temper the 
answers with commendation of the cause rather than the 
individual. 

Above all things cultivate the habit of writing matter which 
the paper will accept and print. It increases the audience 
regularly addressed and draws people to hear the writer. It 
improves ability to speak to the masses. It secures the friend- 
ship of the paper. The manager of a paper in a town of 
twelve thousand once said : "Yes, Rev. Dr. Blank does get his 
name into our paper a great deal. He does not have a mem- 
ber on the staff, but he always has an item for a reporter. He 
comes in frequently just to bring news." 

Most pastors get a trip frequently. Write back three or 
four "travel letters." People will read them and know the 
writer .better afterward. 



CHURCH ADVERTISING 169 

A Denver pastor attended football games regularly when 
Chancellor Buchtel had succeeded in getting a team no one 
could beat, and he wrote ethical-comment stories about every 
game. These regularly appeared on the sporting page of a 
daily. When Jess Willard became the champion a request 
came to a pastor to prepare a three-hundred-word article for 
the Hearst papers. At first there was a refusal, then an accept- 
ance. The first sentence condemned prize fighting; then it 
was shown that the perfect body of the champion was possible 
because "he never touched a drop of liquor, or a piece of 
tobacco, or caroused in his life; he is the product of a 
section of prohibition Kansas where he never saw a saloon." 
One vacation, after interviewing a number of baseball players, 
an article was prepared showing that all of the leaders in the 
game were Christians. It was sent in succession to two lead- 
ing church papers, whose editors refused to use it ; but that 
was providential, for it was then sent to the Kansas City 
Star, which illustrated and printed it for five hundred thou- 
sand readers, and scores of other papers copied it. 

Regularly at Easter, Christmas, and other special seasons, 
a pastor sends appropriate prayers to the dailies, and as a 
result very frequently some one writes an inquiry concerning 
religion. The United Press welcomed a Thanksgiving mes- 
sage. Other news agencies also welcome such special articles. 
And here is the point : these compositions are only an ordinary 
output; scores of men could do as well and better if they 
would set themselves to do it. Pastor Russell gets circulation 
in thousands of papers in the patent insides. Why? Here is 
the manager's explanation : "Our clients want religious mat- 
ter and no one else except Pastor Russell will furnish it with- 
out cost." Indeed, he pays for much of it at advertising 
rates. 

Send the daily papers all kinds of pictures. Own a camera. 
Snapshot picnics, Sunday school classes, official groups, special 
signs, and everything interesting. More than one hundred 
and fifty of these pictures appeared in the dailies during one 
minister's seven years' pastorate. It is not always easy to 



170 THE WAY TO WIN 

get people to allow the use of their pictures. But society people 
permit it: why should church folk hesitate if it will aid? 

One church has recently carried a display ad worded in 
baseball phrases on the sporting page of the Saturday issue 
of the New York Tribune. The church must use space other 
than the church page if it is to catch the eye of the man who 
does not go to church. Many local papers will pay the pastor 
for his contributed articles with space to be used to advertise 
his church. The papers will freely give a few inches to the 
man progressive enough to aptly fill it. 

At any expense of time or money be sure to secure the 
cooperation of the newspaper. It is the best single medium. 

Printed Matter 

It is easy to waste money in printing — the output is too 
general in nature or too prosy in wording or too common 
in illustration and display. A cheap output gives the impres- 
sion of a cheap church. The matter of distribution is also 
very important. A few printed forms put among church- 
going people may miss the mark. Covering the whole town 
or neighborhood a few times is better than reaching after less 
territory more frequently. If handed out on streets or in 
stores by men, printed messages will make a deeper impression 
than if thrown around by boys. Equal Suffrage advocates 
of culture stand on street corners distributing "bills" ; they 
parade carrying placards and make speeches from box stands 
on the street. Is the Kingdom's advance any less important? 

Some churches find it profitable to put in a printing plant. 
Young men thus do practical industrial work and the cost of 
printing is very small. 

In one church printed cards were used weekly announcing 
the Sunday services. These were printed and distributed by 
the Boy Scouts. Each Scout distributed cards on a specified 
street near his home. Similar cards were left on the seats 
in street cars. A small card press was purchased by the 
Scouts and paid for by selling postcards. Some printing they 
did was paid for, and so it became a source of income. 



CHURCH ADVERTISING 171 

The "get up" of all printing is very important, and worthy 
of thought from the pastor. Read advertisements everywhere 
and note happy phrases and striking displays. Study long on 
the leading sentence and omit all unnecessary words. The 
fewer words the more force in the ad. A striking phrase was 
used by Monmouth (Illinois) College inviting support from 
the churches : "Out of 910 men in the alumni 416 are minis- 
ters." Do not say "Welcome," but "Make it your Church." 
Advertise one or two services, not many. Further discussion 
and illustrations along this line are given in Church Publicity, 
by Christian F. Reisner. 

Collect cuts that are pertinent. George A. Moore, of 
Newburgh, New York, a member of the New York Con- 
ference Social Service Commission, a printer, is collecting cuts 
for the use of the churches in that territory. He loans them 
without charge — borrowing good ones wherever found and 
making duplicates. He also does church printing at near cost. 
Eskay's Food had a fine group of baby heads in an adver- 
tisement. A pastor wrote asking its loan and they promptly 
presented him with the cut. Other firms will do the same. 
Zinc etchings can be made of any cut printed on paper such 
as magazines use. Send it to the local newspaper man and he 
will have the etching made at cost, which is small. Respect 
copyrights. 

The Church Bulletin should be filled with spicy informing 
notes showing that the church has something going on. Too 
many bulletins are cheap in form and juiceless in content. 
Correct this. Gather up all that are left over on Monday 
morning and assign some member to mail them to ex-members, 
nonattendants, and those who are being sought as members. 
A church calendar can be provided annually by securing a 
local merchant to pay for it ; he to place a small ad on it in 
return. A chaste New Year's or Easter greeting from the 
pastor ties the member to the church. A souvenir postal card 
might be sent to every member while away on a vacation trip. 
See to it that among the postal cards on sale in town is one 
bearing a picture of the church. Print choice stationery, 



172 THE WAY TO WIN 

nobby and desirable, carrying the name of the church, and 
sell it to the members. Print blotters and place them in the 
offices and stores and everywhere that people will see them. 
Put one in the circular letter sent four or five times a year to 
the entire constituency. Stores may be willing to use stickers 
bearing an advertisement of the church. Watch everywhere 
for new forms used in business, and appropriate them for the 
church. 

Bulletin Board 

Of course every church will have a neat and impressive 
sign on the outside naming the church and listing the services. 
This is important in the country as well as in the town and 
city. A frame and glass will offer place for posting news 
notes and details of coming events. People will get into the 
habit of going by to read them. 

Painted Signs 

Billboards have been banned for many years, but they are 
here to stay. They are now increasingly proving their use- 
fulness. They are kept neat, the printing is artistic, and they 
usually hide away an empty lot that would otherwise become 
a dump heap. Since January i, 1916, no more liquor ads are 
accepted for posting. The recent appearance of twenty-four- 
sheet posters showing Christ in the Manger ; little children 
flocking to church ; Boy Scouts ; and similar pictures, has done 
measureless good. Great Britain has made valuable use of 
billboards in securing recruits. Why should the church 
longer hesitate? Recently through the cooperation of good 
friends an order for one hundred stands of twenty-four 
sheets was placed by Grace Methodist Church, New York 
city, and the pastor says that no one thing ever brought so 
many to church and into membership. In many localities one 
can secure stock sheets which may be put on open space, 
when it is unsold, without charge. 

A painted board in a central location will appeal to all 
passers-by. Cards or printed sheets, like country sale bills, 



CHURCH ADVERTISING 173 

at crossroads and in nearby regions, will awaken interest. 
Small cards can be tacked on many farm wagons ; consent 
from owners may readily be secured. Tags held by strings 
can be attached to autos and buggies. No better publicity 
method is available than cloth streamers on the sides of street 
cars. They can also be stretched across the street. Smallest 
churches can buy stencil sets, plane off thin boards, and make 
their own signs to nail on fences around the country. At 
crossroads place a sign like this — A hand pointing and the 
words, "3 miles to Perry and the Methodist Church. ,, Instead 
of an auto sign, "Danger — Sound a Klaxon," put "Danger : 
The Methodist Church wants to help you meet it in lif e. ,y 
Every church has some one who can make original drawings 
for display signs. Develop the talent, and post these cartoons 
or crayon sketches on the church front or in a conspicuous 
store window. 

IV. The Buildings 

Condition of the Plant 

Everyone notices a tasty yard, a well-kept house, and the 
air of hominess. Some years ago an eccentric maiden woman 
willed the income of her estate to her home town, stipulating 
that it be used to keep all the houses fresh with paint. The 
surest sign of an unsuccessful business is a shabby building, 
an unattractive exterior and a run-down plant. It is the same 
with a church building. Nothing more accurately publishes 
the interest of the membership and the value placed on the 
gospel than the condition of the church building. 

Let a special group organize and sod the yard. Assign 
flower beds to different Sunday school classes. Ask the 
trustees to put the sheds or fence or sidewalk in excellent 
repair. In a town of small or medium size one can organize 
a Men's Club and assign them the task of painting the church, 
and it will cost little. Organize the women to vie with the 
men by making the interior equally attractive. It will be 
surprising how enthusiasm will grow at the task. An outer 



174 THE WAY TO WIN 

storm door or a vestibule will save fuel and colds and create 
a visiting place. Right methods will put all the property in 
repair. The restful auditorium will make worship easier. 
Colors and stains speak as well as the music or preaching. 
Devotion will fix up every church plant and the people will 
hear about it. 

A Fountain in Sunday School 

Theresa H. Wolcott tells of a Sunday school connected 
with a prominent church in Pennsylvania, that placed "a foun- 
tain in the center of the school, the water spraying upward 
and gently falling over many beautiful flowers and ferns im- 
mediately surrounding the fountain. A number of large, lovely 
plants were placed near by. An orchestra of twelve young 
men and women was seated beneath the plants and around the 
fountain. The sight of the flowers, the plants and flowing 
fountain, with the orchestra in the midst leading the singing, 
was an inspiration to all. Many young people attend that 
school because of its attractiveness." 

Get People on Your Street 

The church must not be on the side street of interest, either 
figuratively or literally. One Eastern minister so interested 
himself in civic affairs that he was able to turn actual traffic 
from another street to the one on which his church stood. 
That was the first street paved. The new library was located 
across from the church. The new lighting system was first 
tried on his street. Another minister proved to the city 
council that enough people came to and from the church to 
claim a large electric light at the corner where the building 
stood. A suburban pastor persuaded the street commissioner 
to put in a temporary sidewalk that enabled members in a 
new addition to attend church in muddy weather. 

Public Use of Buildings 

Methods must be found to create a town pride in the local 



CHURCH ADVERTISING 175 

church. It should be the building shown to visitors and 
always identified as dedicated to the service of the people. 
Such a church will be talked about. 

The building should be open for town events. One Okla- 
homa church regularly provided the banquets for the Booster's 
Club. It would hurt no church basement to be opened for 
election and primary voting. Local labor unions and lodges 
should also be welcomed, rather than allowed to meet in 
halls over saloons. Community discussions should always 
find the church doors open. One pastor insisted that it was 
not fair for all of the memorial services of police and firemen 
to be held in Roman Catholic churches. He was then ap- 
pointed an honorary chaplain, and a service was held in his 
church. The church has a right to a recognition of its vital 
position in the community. One preacher in a village of eleven 
hundred organized a Board of Trade, was made its president, 
and a banquet was given in the church vestry with a hundred 
men and the governor of the State present; all of which 
gave his church and himself much desirable publicity. 

V. General Suggestions 

Publicity Week 

The Welch Grape Juice Company arranges a special week 
when unusual publicity is followed by every dealer in the 
country. Store windows are decorated, unusual space is pur- 
chased in the papers, and attention is invited by every known 
plan. Do the same with the local church. Many do so 
already with a week's program. It works if publicity is 
wedded to the attractions. Ask a merchant to give a window 
for display of fancy work made by the Ladies' Aid for the 
"Fair." Another store will provide a place for pictures of 
picnics, Sunday school classes, choir, and other groups. The 
Boy Scouts could decorate another window. Ask the papers 
to give special space, and appoint a committee to furnish 
news in a newsy form. Put out signs over the country roads 



176 THE WAY TO WIN 

or through the towns. Assign a special committee to each 
evening whose duty it is to secure an audience on that occa- 
sion. Use every piece of printed matter that sacrifice and 
solicitation can secure. Get everyone to talk about the church 
that week. Culminate on a Sunday and agree to send autos 
after every person who cannot otherwise attend — outsiders 
will offer the autos if the members have too few. Gather 
every child in all the region for the Sunday school both 
Sundays. Many farmers or town folks with vehicles will 
agree to go along a certain route and bring all children to 
Sunday school free. A New York pastor sends wagons 
down through the East Side and gathers scores of children 
for his church. Why not make this general and bring in 
people from a distance every week? 

Cooperative Advertising 

It will further help the work if several churches advertise 
together. Space in papers can be secured at lower rates. 
Apartment houses will allow printed matter to be left at each 
door, where they would refuse cards from a single church. 
If there are only two churches, they can cooperate in adver- 
tising as well as ten. 

Publicity Training 

Ministers' institutes and conferences as well as lay associa- 
tions discuss everything but church publicity. Now is the time 
to put the subject on your program. Invite a practical news- 
paper man to tell What Is News. Another will instruct 
How to Write News. A merchant will describe How I 
Secure Customers. A business man will answer the query 
Why Do I Advertise? A pastor or two who have tried 
publicity will give experiences. Plenty of experts are ready to 
aid the church in such live methods. The Advertising Men's 
Club of the World assigns delegates to prominent church 
pulpits on the Sunday of their convention. It now has a 
Committee on Church Advertising. 



CHURCH ADVERTISING 177- 

Expense 

Expense is always a big item with the church. It takes faith 
to spend money to advertise. The business man exhibits it. 
Will the servant of Christ be afraid to show faith in declaring 
the value of his goods? But, to be practical, what can be 
done? Put the needed amount on the budget, and the New 
Financial Plan will raise it. Some pastors find so much 
opposition to advertising expense, however, that to prove its 
value they must use their own money to make the first venture 
or two. Soon one, two, or ten men will quietly stand back 
of him. A group of progressive men who never go to church 
frequently cooperate in this, though they would give to 
nothing else. 

Spirit of Advertising 

It must be optimistic and good-natured. It must never de- 
nounce people for not attending church, but tell them how 
the attendance is increasing. Do not so much exhort attend- 
ance as tell them the attractive and helpful things that are 
going on. 

More Than Advertising 

An effective sermon, helpful music, a reception committee 
at the services, homelike social events, community service — 
all these make effective advertising, but are never to be 
undertaken merely for the sake of advertising. 

Committee on Publicity 

In Chapter V it will be seen that the plan of local church 
organization provides for a Committee on Publicity. This 
committee will take the methods herein suggested and, with 
the cooperation of all other committees, wilt give to the com- 
munity a comprehensive and compelling knowledge of the 
whole work of the church. 



VIII 
HOW TO FINANCE THE CHURCH 



I. The New Financial Plan 
Launching the Plan 

Calculate the Budget for Current Expenses 
Fix the Benevolence Budget 
Apportion the Budgets 
Select the Canvassers 
Divide the Constituency 
Train the Canvassers 
Educate the Constituency 
Limit the Time of the Canvass 
Commission the Teams 
Get the Pledge 
Have a Victory Meeting 
Complete the Canvass 
Plan for the Next Canvass 

II. After the Canvass 
III. Other Team Work 
IV. What This Method Avoids 

V. The Whirlwind Campaign 
VI. Unifying the Finances of the Departments 
VII. Systematic Giving 



VIII 
HOW TO FINANCE THE CHURCH 

In a recent editorial the Western Christian Advocate de- 
clared, "The New Financial Plan is proving itself more and 
more each year to be, not simply a temporary makeshift, 
but the wisest, most sensible, and businesslike plan for the 
permanent policy of any church. The plan will not work 
itself ; when it is worked by consecrated men it brings the 
desired results." 

The present chapter aims to tell what the plan is and how 
to operate it. Experience shows that these directions should 
be carried out in full. Certain details may not seem necessary 
in some places ; but the results will be in proportion to the 
completeness with which the plan is adopted and in inverse 
ratio to the measure with which the plan is adapted. 

i. The New Financial Plan 

The important features of the New Financial Plan may be 
briefly summarized under six heads : 

Preparatory information of the constituency. 

Personal canvass of all possible supporters. 

Pledges on the weekly basis. 

Separate budgets, pledges, and treasurers for current ex- 
penses and for benevolences. 

A divided envelope for the offering. 

Quarterly or monthly remittance of benevolence money to 
the Boards. 

Launching the Plan 

In the operation of the plan the first step is naturally to 
have its details outlined before the church and the officiary, 
and the full plan adopted as the policy of the church. In 
preparation for this the pastor and treasurer can secure 

181 



i82 THE WAY TO WIN 

from The Methodist Book Concern, at any of its depositories, 
the literature of the Commission on Finance and samples of 
all supplies including envelopes and treasurers' record book. 

In some cases it may be advisable to have the first presenta- 
tion made to the official board or to the Quarterly Conference. 
If this is done, have the members take supper together. 
When men get their feet under a common table they are more 
receptive to the propositions you may have in mind. Choose 
a few men beforehand and train them on the plan, so that 
they will advocate it in the meeting. A public presentation 
may be made at a Sunday service; but it is often more desir- 
able to have it at a rally, roll call, or supper, where people 
can be reached who may not usually attend the services of 
worship. 

When the Quarterly Conference or Official Board has voted 
to adopt the plan, The Committee on Finance, recommended 
in the chapter on Local Church Organization, will direct and 
operate it. The pastor, the officiary, and the Committee on 
Missions cooperate with this committee. The natural and 
effective procedure for the committee is along the following 
lines : 

Calculate the Budget for Current Expenses 

Under the head of the current expenses will be included 
such items as fuel, light, sexton, music, repairs, and in- 
terests, if any. If there is a debt to be paid or improve- 
ments to be made, put the item into the regular budget, for 
this is the easiest way to raise the money. If the figure for 
-debt or improvements is very large, the amount can be 
distributed through a period of from two to four years. Do 
not be afraid of the increase that this will make in the 
budget. Tell the people that there will be no appeals for such 
items after the present canvass and they will be glad to 
contribute liberally. It is well also to have an item in the 
budget for unexpected expenditures and shrinkage. 

The Sunday school expenses may be included in the regular 
church budget, and the children may make their contributions 



HOW TO FINANCE THE CHURCH 183 

in individual church envelopes rather than a class envelope. 
These may be given at the Sunday school session if desired. 

The figures for ministerial support include the amounts 
paid to the pastor, district superintendent, bishop, and Con- 
ference claimants. Under no consideration may the appor- 
tionments for any of these be classed with benevolences. 

Fix the Benevolence Budget 

The apportionment received from the district superinten- 
dent should be the minimum amount fixed for this budget. 
It is not a goal but a necessity. If this has been met or 
exceeded previously, increase the figure liberally. Plan event- 
ually to reach or exceed the General Conference standard, 
"As much for others as for ourselves." Many churches are 
doing this now — four of them in the small city of Wichita, 
Kansas. Apportionments made by the Annual Conference 
and by the Official Board for conference or local benevolences 
should be added to this budget. One or more special thank- 
offerings may be taken at Easter, Children's Day, Thanks- 
giving Day, or Christmas ; but this plan eliminates the need 
for the special offerings that have been a nuisance in the past. 

Appoint a separate treasurer to receive the monies for the 
benevolence causes. 

Apportion the Budgets 

Divide the budgets among the names on the constituency 
roll. If the constituency roll has not been made, make it 
according to the directions in Chapter I. If these plans are 
being laid sufficiently in advance of the financial canvass, 
there will be time to get the constituency roll by making a 
home survey (see Chapter VI). Do not depend upon what 
the people may be willing to pledge without having in mind 
the definite amount that each one ought to pledge. This 
amount will not be rudely presented as an apportionment when 
the canvasser makes his call, but he will have it in mind and 
try tactfully to get a pledge of that size or more. The 
estimate is made on the basis of previous offerings and 



184 THE WAY TO WIN 

present ability to give. The roll should be made out on a 
card list with the address and telephone number of each 
person, the amount he gave last year to both budgets, and the 
amount he is expected to pledge this year on a weekly basis 
for both budgets. This card is not to be shown to him. 

Select the Canvassers 

Some churches secure canvassers by requesting men to 
volunteer; others prefer to choose the canvassers. The most 
capable and busiest men should be among the number. Less 
promising men may be trained to become efficient or may be 
paired with men who are efficient. 

The men always go two by two. No argument is needed 
to show the wisdom of this. "One shall chase a thousand; 
two shall put ten thousand to flight." 

Divide the Constituency 

Give each team of canvassers the names of the people on 
whom it will be expected to call later for financial pledges. Do 
this at the beginning, so that the teams may be quietly culti- 
vating their lists before calling for the pledges. The names 
should be divided so that each team of two shall see the 
people with whom they will have the most influence. The 
remainder of the names should be divided geographically. 
In a small place there may be no names remaining for 
geographical division. In a large place, if the canvass is 
made in one day, it may be necessary to secure some of the 
pledges beforehand from the men with whom one has 
influence. Then the remainder may be visited within the 
allotted time. The geographical division will be of value 
later. There is no good excuse for dividing names alpha- 
betically. Commonly it is not wise for any team of canvassers 
to be asked to call on more than twenty families : a less 
number is better. 

Train the Canvassers 

The local financial situation should be explained to the 
teams of canvassers and they should receive a working 



HOW TO FINANCE THE CHURCH 185 

knowledge of the missionary work at home and abroad. They 
will not likely secure many pledges for benevolences unless 
they have benevolences on their hearts. The Call of the 
World, by W. E. Doughty, is an excellent book to use for 
this part of the training. The men should meet once a week 
during the four weeks of the preliminary work, and at least 
a half hour of each meeting should be given to the successive 
chapters of the book. If a missionary convention is being 
held, have these men attend it. The canvassers should know 
which of the people on their list are members of the church. 
They should be coached to secure members as well as money. 
Many people have a wrong idea of the New Financial Plan, 
thinking that it is purely financial. They are as mistaken as 
was the Irishman who interpreted the A. M. and P. M. on 
the church bulletin board to mean "After Money" and "Please 
More." If the canvassers are properly trained, their attitude 
and spirit in this effort will be "After men, and, please God, 
more men." They should know the program of the church 
for the coming year, and what each item of the budget is for. 
Weekly meetings should be held for this coaching, for 
actual practice on one another, and for prayer. At the first 
of these meetings have the men agree to pray at a specified 
time each day, commonly twelve o'clock, no matter w^here 
they are or what they are doing. Every man may then feel 
the strength that comes with knowing that at that particular 
minute the minds of the other men are all united with his in 
prayer for the success of this campaign. 

Educate the Constituency 

During the four weeks that the canvassers are being trained 
the constituency should be prepared by the following methods. 
Sermons should be preached on four successive Sundays 
preceding the canvass, on the subjects of missions, steward- 
ship, the program of this church, and the plan. Word 
the topics attractively. After each sermon distribute a leaflet 
on the subject. These should reach all families on the con- 
stituency roll who do not attend church. In some churches 



186 THE WAY TO WIN 

the teams deliver these personally — each team going where 
it will later call for pledges. In others, they are mailed a 
letter that explains the condition of the church, its plans for 
the coming year, and the method of finance being used. Prayer 
meeting topics should concern, consecutively, missions abroad, 
missions at home, this church in relation to its community, 
and the present campaign. A church supper gets the matter 
before many people who do not attend regular services. Three 
laymen may address the people after the supper on What 
This Church Has Done (past record) ; What This Church 
Plans to Do (program outlined) ; and How We Plan To 
Do It (the financial plan). If preferred, a speaker from the 
Commission on Finance or the Laymen's Missionary Move- 
ment can be secured. Make announcements also in the 
Sunday school, Epworth League, church bulletin, and other 
places. Insert frequent articles in the local newspapers. 

There will be little success without thorough educational 
preparation. Give it four full weeks. An explanation by the 
pastor in a sermon, or by the canvasser when calling, will 
not suffice. The cause must be presented until it soaks in 
before one can secure pledges for its support. 

Limit the Time of the Canvass 

Success is furthered by making the canvass in one day or 
one week. It is often done on Sunday afternoon. Those who 
object to the Sunday canvass will be delighted when they 
see the spiritual results produced. Give the people ample 
advance notice, so that they may be at home when the call 
is made. If any are planning to be away, then request them 
to make the pledge beforehand. 

Commission the Teams 

Before the actual canvass the teams should be commis- 
sioned at the altar at a Sunday service. This ceremony will 
include a talk by the pastor concerning the significance of 
this canvass to the Kingdom, an appropriate Scripture selec- 
tion, a prayer of consecration, and a hymn. 



HOW TO FINANCE THE CHURCH 187 

Get the Pledge 

When the canvasser calls he should be particular to get 
the pledge from each person. Sometimes he must explain 
politely and persuasively the necessity of having a definite 
pledge and of having it without postponement. Get a pledge 
from each member of the family, children as well as adults. 

Have a Victory Meeting 

Arrange a Sunday evening victory meeting at which the 
reports of the teams are presented. The report will include 
the number of persons solicited, the number of pledges 
secured for each cause, and the amount of pledges secured 
for each. Interesting experiences will be related. 

Complete the Canvass 

If any people are not reached in the specified time, com- 
plete the canvass as soon as possible after the victory meeting 
and make the report public the following Sunday. 

Plan For the Next Canvass 

The canvass should be made annually. A canvass can always 
be made the second time better than the first. The educational 
preparation may be wisely spread over the entire year. 

II. After the Canvass 

After a vigorous canvass some churches may be inclined to 
dismiss it from the mind. Pastor and people may feel like 
saying, "Let us forget it for awhile. ,, That means danger. 
For a good crop cultivation is almost as necessary as planting. 
Professor Hopkins, of the Illinois State University, says, 
"There are critical periods in the life of plants, when some 
small measure of assistance may change prospective failure 
into marked success." So it is with the every member 
canvass. It needs wise cultivation throughout the year. 

Prayer. The Father's own love must warm the hearts of 
the people if their pledges are to bear fruit. This method 
is no substitute for the divine motives that sustain consecrated 



188 THE WAY TO WIN 

giving. Alexander Maclaren says, "Prayerless work will soon 
slacken and never bear fruit." Pray, therefore, in the pulpit, 
in the midweek service, in the pastoral call, and in private, for 
the Holy Spirit to keep alive every member's consecration to 
his covenant with Christ and the church. 

Facts. Cite helpful incidents in the work of the church in 
the home and foreign lands. Print a paragraph about the 
boards in every Sabbath's bulletin. Feed your people on 
up-to-date facts, and see them grow in interest and zeal. 

Nothing begets success like success. Every giver and worker 
needs encouragement. Frequently refer to the blessings which 
their loyalty to their pledges is bringing to the church. Honest 
commendation will prevent arrears and discontent. 

Watchfulness. The seeming difficulty of a new method 
may turn some givers against it. Explain in detail the way 
to use the divided envelope, until everyone gets the habit of 
doing it correctly. If canvassers have not reported a pledge 
correctly, let the error be made right at once. If any man finds 
he has pledged more than he can afford to pay, let him change 
his pledge, for "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver." Watch 
for any little weeds. It is good husbandry and good business. 

Keep Records Posted to Date. Post the accounts weekly, 
and remind every contributor with a quarterly statement con- 
cerning the exact status of his account. This will be appre- 
ciated by all who have any knowledge of business. The 
envelopes should be returned with the statement. 

Pay Bills by Check Only. This should be done weekly, 
biweekly, or monthly. The regular expenses of the church 
and minor bills may be paid by the treasurer with the approval 
of the financial secretary or of the Committee on Finance. 

Remit Benevolence Money. Moneys received for benevo- 
lences should be sent monthly or quarterly to the various 
boards. This will save them interest. If the contributions are 
not specified, divide them according to the percentages fixed 
by the Commission on Finance. Remitting directly to the 
boards will save the Conference treasurer the trouble of 
handling the cash. He always prefers the vouchers. 



HOW TO FINANCE THE CHURCH 189 

III. Other Team Work 

Conserve the enthusiasm and the devotion that is aroused 
by the successful team play of the financial canvass. Many 
pastors write us that this is the most valued result of the 
entire effort. One pastor writes, "Our men were as happy as 
a lot of children with new dolls." Another one writes, "The 
great result was the effect on the canvassers themselves. They 
were so delighted with their experience that they became the 
enthusiastic helpers of the pastor in personal work." An- 
other, "The solicitors witness to great benefit from the 
canvass. Wished there were more families to see." Here is a 
picture of another Alexander the Great conquering the world 
and sighing for more worlds to conquer. The men will be 
anxious to do things. Let them organize a Brotherhood, or a 
gospel team on the Wichita plan, or make a community 
survey, as outlined in other chapters of this book. 

In many churches the canvassers of each section have been 
given something of the function of the old-time class leaders, 
looking after the spiritual as well as the temporal condition 
of the people in their group. 

Members of each group in some cases pray daily by name 
for every member of the group, especially for the salvation of 
the unsaved ones, if there are any. 

IV. What This Method Avoids 

1. The slip-shod methods so commonly employed in the 
church which would wreck a manufacturing concern, a steam- 
boat line, a bank, or a peanut stand. 

2. Many separate public and private appeals for money 
during the year. 

3. The American Indian plan of "letting the women do the 
work." 

4. A frenzied effort to square up at the end of the year. 

5. The payment of interest on debts. 

6. The necessity for the pastor to ask credit at the grocery. 

7. The collection of benevolence money by the pastor at the 
end of the year, during his last round of calls. 



iqo THE WAY TO WIN 

8. The "omnibus" public presentation of the benevolent 
causes. 

9. The carrying of the burden by a consecrated few. 

10. The depression that attends a financial struggle. 

11. Disgust on the part of successful business men at the 
lack of business system in the church. 

12. Misappropriation of benevolence money. 

13. Making social functions a source of income. 

14. The financial strain that takes time and attention from 
spiritual work. 

15. Cramping the various departments of the church 
through lack of funds. 

V. The Whirlwind Campaign 

This New Financial Plan is the solution of church finance 
problems. In some cases special efforts may need to be made. 
If a new building is to be erected, extensive repairs made, or 
a debt lifted, it may be advisable to do this by a whirlwind 
campaign. It is commonly best to divide the amount into say 
five parts, add one part to the budget each year, and raise 
it by the method above outlined. But if the whirlwind cam- 
paign is advisable, these few hints may help in conducting it : 

1. Take time enough for wide publicity concerning the pur- 
pose of the campaign and the intended use of the money. 

2. Take time to cultivate the people who will be canvassed. 

3. Limit the time during which the pledges shall be taken. 
Seldom should this be more than one week. If it can be done 
in one day, that is better. Any who are to be absent at the 
appointed time should be requested to pledge in advance. 
These last pledges should not be made known until the 
appointed time for the canvass. 

4. Raise the entire amount rather than any part of it. This 
will take no more effort, and it will avoid repeating it. 

5. In some places it is easier to secure pledges covering a 
year's time, payable quarterly in advance. 

6. The pledges should be made on a printed form and 
signed by the person pledging. 






HOW TO FINANCE THE CHURCH 191 

7. Sometimes the promise of a large sum may be secured 
from an individual on provision that a certain total be raised. 
This will add zest. In case of a debt, this pledge should be 
made on provision that the entire debt be subscribed; or for 
constructive work only and provided the whole debt is 
pledged aside from this gift. 

8. Secure the advice and assistance of some one who has 
been successful in this method of work. 

VI. Unifying the Finances of the Departments 

Some churches are finding it advisable to have a common 
treasury for all the organizations. 

A church in Massachusetts found that the independent 
labors of its various societies caused "constant annoyance to 
the people from repeated appeals, an undue burden upon the 
willing few, indefiniteness and uncertainty in financial policy 
and standing, and lack of unity or cooperation in the church." 

It now has in common one treasurer for current expenses 
and one for benevolences, one bookkeeper, one purchasing 
agent. All income from whatever source now goes into the 
common treasury, and each society is allowed an appropria- 
tion sufficient for its work. The bookkeeper has a ledger 
account with each organization, showing how much has been 
appropriated and how much expended for each society. 

The money for the total program of the church is raised 
by the New Financial Plan. The people are asked to pledge 
as much during the canvass as they formerly gave to all the 
societies separately. 

When any organization or committee wishes to make a 
purchase one of its officers gets an order from the purchasing 
agent. The latter makes out the order on a printed form, and 
this is good at the stated place for the article desired. A 
carbon copy of it is given to the bookkeeper. When the firm 
sends the order-form or its own bill to the church for collec- 
tion, the bookkeeper compares it with the carbon copy of the 
order. If it is correct, the bookkeeper instructs the treasurer 



1§2 THE WAY TO WIN 

to pay the amount. All money is banked, and bills are paid 
by check. The books are audited regularly. 

"The result has been the best year financially in the history 
of the church. ,, 

VII. Systematic Giving 

The church will fulfill its divine commission as soon as 
each member supports its work systematically "as the Lord 
has prospered him." Proportionate giving is the surest 
system. Some fail the tenth — some give a third; but a fixed 
proportion should be devoted by everyone. The remarkable 
success of churches following this plan proves its practical 
value. 

An Indiana pastor secured an effective band of twenty-one 
proportionate givers, and the result was an increase in mem- 
bership, in current expense, in benevolence offerings, and in 
salary. To secure the band he distributed a leaflet each Sun- 
day four weeks in succession, preached on the subjects of 
Stewardship and Proportionate Giving, and talked it up in 
his pastoral visits. Those who would took plain envelopes and 
put their offering into them every week. This plain envelope 
left the details with each person's conscience and prevented 
others from inquiring into their affairs. These twenty-one 
met weekly for a prayer meeting, which was one of unusual 
power. 

Literature concerning stewardship and proportionate giving 
may be obtained from the Stewardship Department of the 
Commission on Finance, 1020 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago, 
Illinois ; from the Laymen's Missionary Movement, 1 Madison 
Avenue, New York city; from Layman, 143 North Wabash 
Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, and from the Rev. R. W. Woods- 
worth, 105 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto, Canada. 



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